Gen no Yama: Mountain of Illusion
by Yumeko1
Summary: It's business as usual for Genrou and the bandits of Mt. Leikaku, at least until their new recruit develops an interest in the leader. Takes place after the events of Eikou Den and contains spoilers for the main series and Genrou Den. Also, numerous shoujo tropes.
1. Memories Remain

The rain came unexpectedly, soaking Konan's majestic Leikaku Mountain and everything on it. The bandit camp – more of a fortress, really – that was nestled in the topmost peak was no exception and before long the rain had become so hard that even the guards at the front gate had come inside to see if it would pass.

By midnight the rain had lightened up a bit but the guards who were responsible for the watch still didn't want to go out. They reasoned that if anyone wanted to attack their fortress, they would surely do it when the weather was better. For one thing, getting horses to move up a mountain in this weather would be next to impossible. The guards stayed inside but alert, the majority of the bandits had either gone to sleep or passed out, and the rain rushed through the rocks to form pools in whatever flat spaces it could find.

A bolt of lightning tore through the night sky and the bandit leader who called himself Genrou sat up in bed, a second bolt sending jagged light over everything in his room. He pressed a hand to his forehead, frowning into his palm as if he had a headache.

It had been a while since he'd dreamed of her.

He got out of bed, his muscles unwilling to be still in the wake of his dream. He had to move. The complex character on his right forearm burned red in the darkness as he went to the window and looked out. It was still raining. Genrou pushed aside the curtain for a better look out at the mountain and the glow from his arm caught his eye. He gripped his forearm with his left hand for a moment, then turned his head away as if in disgust.

_Gotta get outta here_, he thought. _I can't stay here right now_.

Without lighting a lamp, Genrou picked up the clothes he had worn the day before and put them on, winding a long strip of cloth around his forearm until it covered the glowing red character completely. Once he was dressed, he slid back the door to his room and stepped out into a long hallway. He was a little surprised by how quiet it was but wasn't about to complain. Anyone he might run into would either want to know where he was going or to try and go with him, and Genrou didn't much feel like making small talk.

If it was just drinking he wanted to do, he could easily do it at the fortress where bottles and jugs of liquor were stockpiled. This was a deeper need, to be on his own but at the same time not alone. It made his head hurt to think about it so he pushed the memories deeper into his mind and concentrated on the task at hand; getting out of the fortress on his own.

The guards were still inside, watching the gate and the rain from just inside the main building, and Genrou walked up to them. There was no getting around them, he would have to at least let them know where he was going so they could let him out.

"'ey, Kashira," one of the men said, straightening up. "You goin' somewhere in all this?"

"Yeah," Genrou said, trying to act nonchalant. "Just goin' down into town for a couple of hours. I'll be back before even get the bars back on the gate."

"I gotcha," the second guard said with a knowing leer. "Don't you worry about a thing, we've got it all taken care of right here."

"Thanks." They ducked out into the rain and opened the gate while Genrou ran back around to the stable and saddled a horse. He was relieved that they hadn't asked too many questions but supposed that there wasn't a man in the fortress who didn't need to visit town from time to time. It was a part of living with a large number of men, everyone knowing everyone else's business.

After riding past the guards, Genrou made his way down the mountain on a horse that obviously wished it was back in the stable, a hood pulled up over his head to protect him from the rain.

As he rode into the town at the foot of the mountain, the sky opened again and a fresh sheet of rain fell over him. Cursing, Genrou hurried his horse to the teahouse and dismounted, then hurried under the curved roof of the teahouse. The door opened immediately as he pulled the hood back from his flame-red hair and a handsome woman smiled out at him.

"Good evening," she said, bowing pleasantly. "I didn't expect anyone to come so late, and in this weather. Please, come in and get dry."

"Thanks," Genrou said. As if she had been summoned, a young woman came forward with a towel and handed it to him. "Thanks," he said again, taking it from her.

"Would you care for some warm sake?"

"That'd be great," Genrou said. The girl nodded and disappeared while the handsome woman led him to a room with a small table behind a sliding paper door. She motioned for him to sit and he did, taking off his wet cloak and coat. "Ya got someplace I can hang this up?"

"Shika will take it and hang it by the fire when she comes back with your sake. As for your company this evening, you'll be pleased to know that Mei is available to spend some time with you."

"That's great," Genrou said, his mind elsewhere. He was only going through the motions talking to the woman, saying the usual things in his usual voice and she didn't seem to notice anything different about him. The door slid open and instead of Mei, the girl she had called Shika came back in with a sake bottle and dish.

"Your sake," she said, setting it in front of him, then kneeling beside the table. "May I pour you-"

"Gen-chan!" A sexy female voice preceded a curvaceous woman who looked like she was on the young side of twenty-five, and she swept in and put an arm around Genrou. "What are you doing here so late? And in this weather!" Not waiting for him to answer, Mei swept the sake the girl had been about to pour into her hand and pressed the dish into his hand. "Shika, would you be a dear and take his wet coat and hang it up to dry?

"Yes, of course." Shika took the coat and hood from him and hurried to the door, eyes on the ground as if she was embarrassed to look at him. Genrou wondered how she was ever going to make it as a courtesan if she couldn't even look a man in the eye.

"You're so tense!" He hadn't even realized it until she said something, but Mei was rubbing his shoulders in the gentle but firm way he liked. "Lots of stress, huh?"

"Somethin' like that, yeah." Genrou answered her the same way he did the older woman, hoping he sounded normal enough to not arouse any suspicion. He didn't really feel much like talking.

Mei, on the other hand, seemed to want to talk all night. It reminded him of _her_ and he found himself smiling against his will. Yes, she had always been so vibrant and full of life. Irritatingly optimistic sometimes, but it came with the territory of being the priestess of Suzaku, the Miko. Even when he felt like giving up, just seeing her smile was enough to make him want to go on.

Her face stayed in the front of his mind now, the way she laughed and how she had felt in his arms that one time by the river. Mei's fingers kneaded his tense muscles but in his mind it was someone else touching him, talking to him, smiling at him.

She was gone now. Back to her own world and safe now for good. By now she and Taka had welcomed their child, and for all he knew they could have another on the way. He didn't begrudge her that, her or Taka. Their happiness was his happiness. Most of the time anyway. Still, there were times when he woke up at night where all he wanted was for things to have gone a little differently. For her to have met him first. For him to have saved her.

_Her._

_ Miaka..._


	2. The Thief and the Wolf

It was hot and a little muggy as the young man made his way up Mt. Leikaku, picking his way through the rocky paths. The sun beat down on him and he looked up, shielding his eyes, to find it was directly overhead. It meant he'd been walking for hours and a sigh escaped his mouth. He couldn't turn back now, though. This was all part of the test as far as Kai was concerned.

At least he could see the fortress now. It was bigger than he'd expected, and surrounded by an enormous wooden fence. It looked as if it had once been a sprawling, rich man's house, a strange sight in the mountains to be sure. This was what he had come looking for, though, and he felt a second burst of energy hit him. He scrambled up the path, eager to get out of the sun and find out what he had gotten himself into.

No sooner had he arrived at the gate than a muscular man with long, unkempt hair stepped out and looked at the boy almost curiously.

"Hey, kid. What do you think you're doin' up here?"

"I've come to join you," said Kai, thinking there was no reason for him to beat around the bush. This wasn't the man he'd come to see, anyway. He'd save his breath for the man in charge. "I want to see your leader!"

"You do, huh?" The bandit at the gate gave the young man an indulgent look, as if he was about to tell him to run back home to his mother. "What if I just had a couple of my buddies come out here and kick your scrawny ass back down the mountain?" It was just barely a threat but Kai didn't care if he got beaten up. Whatever got him through the gates was fine with him.

"Kick my ass all you like, but do it after I meet your leader."

"Is that so?" A second man, this one with long hair pulled onto the top of his head in a bun and wearing armor made of leather, came out from the gate to join them. "Why don't we play with you a little first?"

"Fine by me." Kai stepped forward to leap at the man in armor, only to step the wrong way on a rock and stumble several steps toward the gate instead. He caught himself before he could fall down but his face burned as the bandits laughed at him. This was not the impression he'd hoped to make. Other bandits were coming out of the fortress, hearing the laughter and wanting to see what was going on.

"What's this about?"

"This kid wants to see Kashira. Thinks he can join us," the long-haired guard said. "He was just showing off some of his impressive skills."

"Go home, kid," a bandit with short hair bleached brown by the sun said. "Before your mama notices you're missing." This sent a spark flying in Kai's chest and he looked from face to face, his jaw set. He wasn't about to leave, even if they all beat him at once.

Before Kai could say anything else or the bandits could do more than laugh at the boy who had climbed a mountain to reach them, a figure came through the crowd with his arms folded across his chest. His hair was an unusual blue-black shade and there was a scar down his cheek.

"What have we got here?" The laughter died off as he looked at Kai appraisingly. "A kid found his way up here?"

"I'm here to join you," Kai said, directing his eyes only toward the newcomer. The others seemed to defer to him, though he already knew this wasn't the leader. "I want to see your leader." He expected more laughter but the bandits looked to the scarred man to see what he would do. Much to Kai's surprise, he motioned for the boy to come with him.

"Come with me." Kai nodded, then followed the man through the gates and into the fortress. The rest of the bandits, surprised by this turn of events, came along behind them like a parade.

The inside of the fortress was far cooler than it had been on the climb up the mountain and Kai thought that even if they kicked him out he had at least had the chance to cool off a little. Not that he wanted them to kick him out, but so far things hadn't gone according to the plan he'd laid out in his head before he started his climb. Behind him, he could hear the bandits muttering to each other about what Kouji was thinking and he looked over the scarred man again, turning his name over in his head as they walked.

Finally they came to a pair of double doors ant Kouji stopped in front of them and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, who is it? It's Kouji, here with an interesting thing to show the leader. Oh, that's good, please come on in." Having finished this odd pronouncement, Kouji pushed open the door and strode inside with Kai close behind.

The room was piled full of chests, vases, rolls of cloth and other things that Kai assumed were all things they'd taken from unwary travelers. Standing near a table, holding up a necklace and examining it with the eye of a jeweler, was the man Kai had been waiting to see.

He was an average sized man, athletic-looking and presumably strong, otherwise he couldn't imagine him being the leader of the bandits. Apart from the way he was dressed, wearing jewelry and tailored clothes instead of whatever he might have stolen, he was different from the others in that he had bright orange hair pulled back in a long ponytail. He tossed the necklace aside and looked first at Kouji, then at Kai.

"What've ya got there?"

"Kid came up the mountain," Kouji said, jerking his thumb at Kai. "Says he wants to see you."

"Is that so?" Genrou looked at the boy, took in his plain brown tunic and pants, the thin shoes he'd somehow made it up the mountain wearing, his short ponytail, and the look of determination on his face. "What's eatin' ya, kid?"

"I want to join you," Kai said, hoping that the leader would hear in his voice just how much he wanted this. "I want to be a bandit." He half-expected to be laughed at again but to his relief, his words were met by a look of interest.

"Is that so?"

"What good do you think a kid like you're gonna be around here?" The largest of the bandits spoke up, a man who looked like a boulder brought to life, complete with a bald head and craggy face with an eyepatch over one eye. "You're barely bigger'n a bottle of booze!"

"I might be small, but I'm fast," the young man said, his hands on his hips. "I can steal something from anyone before they even know I'm there." As if anticipating that they would ask for proof, he pulled out a short-bladed knife that made one of the gate guards feel his hip and find nothing there. The young man smirked and tossed it back to him. "See?"

"That's pretty impressive," said Kouji, looking back at Genrou. He watched, still interested, but didn't say anything. "But what about fighting? Can a kid your size really be useful in a fight?"

By way of a reply, the young man put down his head and took a run at the leader of the bandits. More bandits moved in automatically to protect him and the small figure dodged them easily, pulling back his arm to deliver a punch. His fist flew at the leader's face but Genrou's hand went up so quickly that it was a blur, caught it and squeezed.

"Nice try," he said, grinning. "But I'm faster."

"Urgh," the young man said, ignoring the pain in his hand. He'd wanted to impress them and all he'd done was end up looking like an idiot. He refused to apologize, though. If he showed even the slightest bit of weakness, they'd never let him join. "If you won't take me, I'll see if the Mt. Kaou bandits'll take me instead." It was an empty threat, but they didn't have to know that.

"You've got balls, kid," the leader said, letting go of his hand. "I like it." He extended a hand and smiled, this time a much warmer welcoming one. "I'm Genrou, the leader around here. And this guy," he said, nodding to the one with the scar, "Is Kouji. He's kinda my right-hand guy. Ya need somethin' and I'm not around, ya ask him, got it?"

"Yes, sir." The young man slapped his hand into Genrou's with a grin. "I'm Kai."

"Welcome to the Mt. Leikaku bandits, kid. You'll still have to prove yourself but as of now, you're one of us."

"Thank you, sir." Kai paused for a moment, then corrected himself. "Kashira." Calling him 'leader' was a sign of the respect Kai felt for this man, much more so than a simple 'sir.'

"For now you'll sleep in the storage room," Genrou said. "Don't even think about tryin' to make off with anything from in there," he said, narrowing his eyes. Kai shook his head. He honestly had no intention of doing anything that could jeopardize his place among the bandits and, more importantly, the possible encouragement of the leader. "Now that we've got that taken care of, it's time to eat. I hope you know somethin' about the kitchen, 'cause that's where you're gonna be workin' for now."

"Sorry," Kai said. "I can't cook worth a damn. I'm a fast learner, though."

"Good," Kouji said with a nod. "So get in there and start learning how to serve dinner. We've got hungry men out here."

Kai followed a few of the men to the kitchen and picked up a large plate, then followed the other men to the dining hall where the bandits were sitting along long tables with plates and chopsticks in front of them. Kai sat the large plate down in front of them and backed away to go get another plate. They were heavy and by the time he got them all out of the kitchen, he was looking forward to his bed in the storage room.

While he was struggling to learn the ways of the kitchen, the other bandits took advantage of his eagerness and called out to him to bring things to them, which Kai did with varying degrees of success. Watching him the entire time with a critical eye was Kouji, sat beside Genrou at the head of the table.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Kouji looked at the boy, who was making another trip back to the kitchen. "He's kind of a runt."

"Yeah, but he's got the right attitude." Genrou smirked. "Kinda reminds me of me when I was a kid, though."

"I know," Kouji said, then shook his head when Genrou looked at him in surprise. "I've known you since we had to share a room when _you_ were the smart-ass kid who wouldn't take no for an answer. Why do you think I brought him to see you instead of telling him to get lost?"

"What, you thought you'd let me tell him to get lost?" The two men grinned at each other, then looked at Kai as he came back with several gourds of liquor cradled in one arm and a stack of cups in the other. "Gotta give him credit for bein' fast, though."

"Here you go, Kashira," Kai said, leaning between them to pour some sake out for Genrou and hand it to him as neatly as if he'd been at a table in a teahouse.

"Thanks, kid." Genrou grinned and watched him pour a cup of sake for Kouji as well before heading around the table, still smiling what Genrou knew was a genuine smile. The boy definitely reminded him of himself.

It took so long to get everyone else served that Kai barely had time to eat himself before the others started getting up, leaving behind a litter of plates and cups that he stared at while he finished his dinner. The hall was quiet where it had just been lively and loud and he could hear the chatter and laughter slowly moving away from him. He ate the last of his rice, then went around the table and started picking up the dishes.

They were lighter when they were empty and Kai was able to get most of them in just a couple of trips, dumping them into the wooden basin he assumed was by the door for this purpose. Between trips, he put water to boil so it would be hot enough to wash the dishes by the time he got ready to wash them, making a mental note that he would have to ask where the well was so he could get more water. Once the dishes were collected, Kai stood in front of the basin and stared at them with his hands on his hips, wondering how exactly he was supposed to do them all on his own.

"Well, I _am_ the new guy," he muttered, picking up a rag and tossing it over his shoulder. Somewhere in the fortress there was a guy who was breathing a sigh of relief that he didn't have to do this anymore, he just knew it.

While he scrubbed, Kai found himself grinning at the wall. In spite of the fact that he had just had dinner with a group of bandits that had conditionally accepted him into their fold. If they hadn't accepted him, he probably would have gone back down to the village and started plotting a second attack. But they _had _accepted him, thanks to Genrou, and even though he knew the hardest part was yet to come he was happy.

By the time he finished with the dishes he was feeling much less enthusiastic but relief washed over him when he stepped out into the hallway. His hands were tight and dry from the hot water and his arms hurt from scrubbing. It hadn't occurred to him just how many men lived in this fortress until he'd had to wash their dishes, but at that moment it felt like at least a thousand.

He was halfway down the hall before he realized that no one had ever told him where the storage room was and he froze in the middle of the floor. It wasn't like he could just go pushing open every door in the fortress, hoping he found the right one.

Even though he knew he'd probably be laughed at again, Kai looked around for someone to tell him where to go but no one was around. Not Kouji, not even the huge bandit with the eyepatch. Lost and tired, he started down the hall in the hopes that a solution would jump out at him. Somewhere in the fortress men were laughing and Kai walked toward the sound, steeling himself for their disdain and teasing.

At the end of the hallway, a set of double doors blocked his way and Kai tried to remember if the storage room had double doors. He assumed the room he'd met Genrou in was the storage room, anyway. It made sense, though, since that was where anything he might want to steal was located. Trusting his memory, Kai pushed open the doors only to find Genrou inside unbuttoning his shirt.

"Hey! Dontcha know how to knock?"

"Sorry!" His face burning brightly, Kai bowed to his waist. "I'm sorry!" He kept his head bowed as he backed out and shut the doors, then leaned back against them with one hand pressed over his face. _Dammit. You idiot,_ he told himself. _You should have knocked first. Who just walks into a room without knocking? He probably thinks I'm-_ Before he could finish his sentence, the door began to open behind him and Kai leapt off it so he wouldn't tumble backward into the room.

"So what's the problem?" Genrou came out of the room wearing the same pants he had been wearing earlier but with a plain white shirt over them. He looked at Kai, who hadn't expected him to suddenly appear.

"Huh?"

"What're ya doin' out here? Ya gotta be after somethin' if you're walkin' into people's rooms without knockin.'" This reminder of Kai's misstep made the boy's face burn hotter and he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I just, uh, I was-" Kai forced a smile onto his face. "-I was looking for the storage room."

"You're on the completely wrong side of the place for that," Genrou said with a shake of his head. "Weren't ya payin' attention when you came in?"

"Sort of." It wasn't a lie. Kai had been so nervous and excited when he was being led through the fortress that he'd looked at everything and nothing in equal measure, and tried to make sure no one saw him doing either.

"Oh, well. C'mon." Genrou motioned for Kai to follow him, then paused and held up a hand. "Hang on a second." He went back into his room, then returned with a blanket and pillow that he tossed to Kai. "Ya gotta sleep under somethin,' right?"

"Th-thank you," Kai said, looking down at the bedding in surprise. He'd half-expected that he'd just sleep on the floor, maybe pulling one of the coats down from the pile he'd seen in the storage room and hoping no one would get mad at him. Now he was getting not only a blanket from the leader, he was also getting a pillow. Genrou started walking down the hall and Kai hurried after him, tucking the pillow and blanket under his arm.

"When ya come in from the front, ya just walk all the way down and take a left," he said, walking past the room where all the laughter was coming from. "Sounds like some of the guys're drinkin' in there. Ya wanna join 'em?"

"Not now," Kai said, honestly. "I had kind of a long day and I'm looking forward to some sleep. If that's okay with you."

"'S fine with me," Genrou said, giving Kai a half-smirk. "I ain't the boss of ya." He seemed to realize what he'd said and his smile covered the rest of his face. "Well, I mean, I guess I am but ya know what I mean."

"Yeah," Kai said, turning the corner with him. He wasn't sure what to say. Everything he wanted to say seemed so trivial and not at all worthy of discussion with the man who walked beside him. Genrou didn't seem to be bothered at all by the silence and Kai contented himself with the knowledge that he would be able to sleep very soon.

"So ya know where the kitchen is," Genrou said, nodding to his right. "And the hall where we eat's right through there. 'Course ya already know that. There's a room over there that's sorta where we keep all our weapons and stuff when we're not usin' 'em. Ya know how to fight with a weapon?"

"Like a sword? No. I've always just used my fists."

"You're gonna have to get used to havin' a weapon, even if ya don't use it. I'm sure one of the guys will show ya the ropes. Anything particularly interest ya?"

"I kind of think a bow would be cool."

"Long-range weapon, huh? That's gonna take some practice for sure." They walked down a second hallway and Kai looked around. He hadn't expected the place to be so big. The thought that it had been a house came to him again and he was just about to ask Genrou about it when he realized that the leader of the bandits, the one he had fought his way up the mountain to see, was giving him a tour of the fortress like he was a guide. "Over here's where we all get together to go over plans before we do anything big. Most all the guys can fit in there."

"You really don't have to show me around, Kashira. Just tell me where to go and I'll figure it out." Kai tried to smile at Genrou, who gave him a strange look that made Kai tighten his grip on the blanket and pillow.

"What, ya don't like my tour?"

"N-no, it's not that! It's just, I mean, you've got more important things to do than show me where I'm supposed to be sleeping," Kai said.

"Nah, not really. Besides, I remember when I was a kid and didn't know my way around the place either. I wish I woulda had someone to show me around." He looked Kai up and down. "I was probably around your age when I joined up."

"Really?"

"Sure. What're ya, like fifteen?"

"What? No!" Kai was slightly offended. "I just turned twenty last month!"

"Ya sure about that?" Genrou looked at him dubiously. "There ain't no way you're done growin.'" Kai resisted the urge to punch him in the ribs. If there was one thing he hated it was people telling him he looked like a kid.

"I'm telling you, I'm twenty."

"If ya say so," Genrou said with a shrug. "It ain't like there's an age limit to bein' a bandit." They had reached a second set of double doors and he pushed them open. "This' the storage room. Just sleep wherever ya want. Startin' tomorrow you're in trainin' in addition to doin' all the chores, so ya better get a good night's sleep while ya can."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, Kashira." He bowed deeply and Genrou laughed.

"Ya don't have to be so formal," he said. "Go on and get some sleep. I'll get ya started in the mornin.'" With that he turned and closed the doors to the storage room, leaving Kai to look around the room curiously. Genrou's earlier warning was still in his head and he chose a spot furthest away from the pile of loot so they wouldn't think he was trying to steal anything. He dropped his pillow on the floor and took off his shoes, setting them aside carefully. They were beaten up by his walk up the mountain and he wondered how long it would be before he was able to replace them.

Once he laid down on the floor he realized that no matter how tired he was he wouldn't be able to sleep with the lights on, so he got back up and went over to the lamps that hung from brackets on the wall and blew them out. The room was immediately plunged into darkness and he had to feel his way back to his pillow.

With that taken care of, Kai laid on the hard floor, grateful for the pillow that would at least keep his cheek from pressing against hard concrete while he slept. The blanket was pulled up around his chin and in spite of the discomfort his shoulder and back was registering, he was smiling. Genrou's blanket and pillow smelled good, like incense and a bit of sweat, and as he drifted off to sleep, he thought how nice it would be to be this close to Genrou. The thought made him blush and he closed his eyes. Moments later, he was asleep, safe in the fortress in the mountains at last.


	3. An Unlikely Pair

"Time to get up," said a voice that Kai didn't recognize. He shifted on the hard floor and kept his eyes closed, only to feel a boot poking him in the shoulder. "Hey, c'mon. You've slept long enough." This still didn't produce the desired result so Genrou flipped him over onto his back. This woke Kai up completely and he sat up.

"Kashira! I'm sorry! I just-"

"Yeah, yeah. Ya had a rough day. It's gonna be another one, ya better get used to it." He watched Kai scramble off the floor and looked him up and down. "Hope ya didn't want anything to eat, it's all gone."

"Oh damn! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Kai bowed as low as he could. "I'm sorry!"

"Ya say that a lot," Genrou said dispassionately. "It's no big deal. Ya gotta start trainin' today, though, so ya might wanna get a move on tomorrow morning so you don't get left out. Come with me. Leave that," he said as Kai leaned over to pick up his pillow. "Just get it later."

"Yes, Kashira."

"Let's get down to business," he said, taking Kai down the hallway. "We ain't your normal kinda bandits. Most of the stuff we take goes to the people in the village down the mountain. We keep whatever it takes to keep ourselves fed and taken care of." He grinned at him. "Okay, maybe a little more'n that. Anyway, that's what we're about. Ya get it?"

"Yeah. It sounds good."

"I'm glad ya think of it like that." They were in front of the door he had said led to the room that held the weapons and he pushed it open. Kai looked around, fascinated. There were swords and naginata, shields and knives on the wall and in racks. "Here," Genrou said, picking up a bow from the wall and handing it to him. "Ya said ya wanted to learn to use a bow, here's one. It's yours now so take care of it." Kai looked down at the bow, then nodded vigorously.

"Yes, sir! Thank you," he said, running his hand over the smooth wood. It felt good, smooth and cool, and he looked up at Genrou. "Thank you."

"I was thinkin' about it and it's probably the best thing someone your size can use," Genrou said with a shrug. "Ya probably couldn't even lift a sword with those little arms." His teasing had no effect on Kai, who was still enthralled with his new weapon. "You're gonna need these too," he said, picking up a quiver of arrows.

"Thank you," Kai repeated again, slinging the quiver over his shoulder. "I can't wait to learn."

"Yeah, I had a feelin' ya were gonna be eager once ya got up. Let's go outside." With a nod, Kai followed him out of the storage room and down the hall. "Best way for ya to learn is tryin' it out yourself but I'll give ya some pointers."

They went out to the back of the fortress where there was a large, open space. Trees surrounded it and Genrou pointed to one of them that had circles painted down its length.

"Target practice," he said by way of explanation. "We'll get ya some apples or somethin' so you can practice shootin' moving targets, but ya gotta learn the basics first. Unless ya already know the basics."

"Uh," Kai said, holding up the bow and pulling back the string. "You hold it like this, right?"

"At least ya know which direction is up," he sighed, taking the bow from him. "Like this." Genrou took an arrow from the quiver on his back and fired it smoothly. The arrow flew straight and sure, embedding itself in the center of one of the painted targets. Genrou handed the bow back to him and pointed at the tree. "Go ahead and try to hit the target."

"All right." Kai took out an arrow and put it on the string, then pulled it back, aiming as best he knew how and letting go. The arrow wobbled as it flew, then fell short of its target by several feet. He looked up at Genrou apologetically and saw that the leader had his hand over his face.

"Practice," he said. "Just...keep practicing." He turned and walked toward the fortress, muttering in a voice that wasn't quite under his breath. "What the hell am I gonna do with this kid?"

Kai blushed at this, stringing another arrow as he did. Of course Genrou was going to doubt his skills, he didn't have any. Still, he decided that he was going to do it and let a second arrow fly. It didn't get much farther than the first and he sighed as he strung another arrow.

He was pulling the arrows out of the ground when Genrou came back over to him with one of the other bandits in tow.

"Okay," Genrou said, leading Kai over to the enormous bandit who had disparaged his size the day before. "This is Nami," he said, gesturing toward the wall of muscle. "From now on you're gonna hang around with him and he'll show ya the ropes."

"What? How come I get stuck with the kid?"

"'Cause he's the smallest one around here. Might as well give him to the biggest." He looked at Kai. "You're gonna be sleepin' in his room startin' tonight too. Can't have ya in the storage room forever, y'know."

"Uh, no, it's okay," Kai said, holding up his hands in front of his chest. "You don't have to do that, Kashira. I'm totally fine with sleeping in the storage room." Genrou shook his head and folded his arms over his chest.

"Nope. You're gonna sleep in the same room, so get used to the idea." He turned back to the fortress and waved over his shoulder. "I've gotta go check on a couple of things. You two get to know each other, okay?"

Kai looked up at Nami, who narrowed his one eye at the boy, sizing him up. They stood in silence for a little while before Kai cleared his throat.

"Uh," he said, searching for something to say. He held up the bow and pointed at it. "You have any experience with one of these?"

"Nope. I use a sword."

"Oh." This was the only thing Kai could think of to talk about and he looked up at the fortress. Nami heaved a sigh that could have shifted the mountain, then pointed at the door.

"C'mon. I'll show you where you sleep." Kai nodded and followed him into the fortress, walking in his shadow and staring at his back. They went down the hall and turned away from Genrou's room, going instead into a side hall and stopping in front of a door. Kai couldn't help looking toward the leader's room, judging its distance away from the place where he'd be sleeping. "Here's my room," Nami said, getting Kai's attention. "I mean our room, I guess."

"Right," Kai said with a nod.

"You sleep on the floor."

"Right."

"Go get your blankets," Nami said, pointing at the door. Kai nodded and went back into the hall. This time he went straight to the storage room with only one wrong turn, picked up his pillow and blanket, and hurried back to his new room. Nami looked at them disdainfully. "That's all you got, huh?" He examined Kai's dully colored clothes and worn shoes. "You should look through the storage room for somethin' else to wear. You look like you crawled up a mountain."

"That's probably a good idea," Kai said, lifting up one foot then the other. "You think that's okay? I don't want anyone thinking I'm stealing."

"Don't worry about it. How d'you think most of us get our clothes?" This hadn't even occurred to Kai and he nodded. "Good. You go do that and we'll go around the fortress, I'll show you where everything is. Meet me back outside."

"Thank you, Aniki." He didn't think it was a good idea to mention that Genrou had already showed him all through the fortress. Besides, he hadn't had a good look at the outside yet. He bowed quickly to Nami, then ran back down to the storage room.

There wasn't much of a selection for someone as small and slender as Kai, but he managed to piece together a dark gray pair of pants and light gray shirt with green trim. He tied it around his waist with an equally green sash, then used some strips of leather to bind the legs of his pants to his shins. Another piece of leather served as a way to keep his hair back after running his hands through it, and as soon as he tied it he ran back outside to where Nami was standing with Genrou.

"This' Goh," he said, motioning to another man who was also holding a bow. "He's our best archer and he's gonna give you some lessons after Nami shows ya around."

"Thank you," Kai said with another bow.

"Some manners ya got," Goh said. "Don't worry, we'll beat that outta ya." He grinned at Kai, who didn't seem worried in the least. "You come find me when you're ready to learn how to shoot. I'll get ya up to speed." Kai nodded and Nami led him off again.

"The wall goes all the way around the fortress," Nami said, walking Kai around the wooden wall. "There're a few places that need reinforcing and we're gonna be doin' that pretty soon." He smirked at Kai. "Don't worry, we'll find something a runt like you can do."

"I'm looking forward to it," Kai said, not rising to the bait. He had known when he started up the mountain that he was going to be the butt of lots of jokes about his height, but he looked even smaller compared to Nami. "Whatever you want me to do, Aniki."

"Don't expect to be sleepin' in every day like you did this morning. You're on the floor when I wake up, I'm gonna step on you." Kai looked up at him, trying to gauge his weight from his height and not liking what he came up with. The last thing he wanted was for this man to step on him and he resolved to sleep next to the wall. "Back here's the well," Nami went on. "You're gonna be drawing the water we use for stuff."

"All right," Kai said, not knowing exactly how else to respond. He felt like saying yes over and over would make him sound stupid but he also didn't want Nami to think he wasn't listening.

"You've landed yourself a great job," Nami said, breaking into his thoughts. "You get to clean up the fortress, do our laundry, load up the wagons, and maybe when you're done with all that we'll let you start learning the ropes." He looked back at Kai, who nodded. "Not what you were expectin' when you signed up, huh?"

"It's not the first time I've had to do stuff like this," Kai said truthfully. "At least you don't expect me to cook for you. I burn everything."

"You're gonna have to learn. You're the one-man odd job crew around here now, so take it seriously." They had come back to the fortress by this point and Nami pointed to Goh, who was sitting by the target tree. "Get on over there and be his problem for a little while," he said. "Don't be late servin' dinner, though. And don't let someone else be responsible for the water tonight."

"I won't, Aniki." Kai went over to the tree and Goh stood up, dusting off the legs of his pants as he did. While he was being shown around, Kai had forgotten that he was still holding his new bow and when Goh pointed at it he was almost surprised.

"Okay, ya already got a weapon, we just need to get ya to be able to use it." He led Kai a little ways from the tree and pointed at the targets. "We're gonna stand close to start with so ya can actually hit the tree. Kashira tells me you couldn't do it earlier."

"It's my first time," Kai said defensively, hoping immediately after he'd said it that Goh didn't take offense to it. It would be pretty pathetic to get kicked out of the fortress on his first real day. "I just need some practice."

"Right. So let's practice holding the bow first."

"Yes, sir."

As they practiced, it became evident that Kai wasn't going to be shooting arrows for a while. When he'd told Genrou he used his fists, it was stretching the truth almost to the point of breaking. He was almost as inexperienced with fighting as he was with the bow but he somehow knew that if they'd called his bluff when he first arrived he would have at least been able to make enough of an impact to impress them. For someone his size, anyway. As far as combat was concerned, Kai's only strength was his speed.

"That's enough for right now," Goh said as Kai brought back a handful of arrows again. He was rubbing his forehead the same way Genrou had and the boy blushed fiercely. A sudden burst of fear that they were going to kick him out of the group hit him and he shook his head.

"N-no, Aniki, I can try some more!"

"Don't ya have dinner to make or something?" He looked at Kai and sighed. "Ya did okay for your first day. It's gonna take practice is all. We'll do it again tomorrow when you're done with your chores, okay?"

"All right." Disappointed but heartened by Goh's words, Kai dropped his arrows back into his quiver and went toward the fortress to put them in his room. He walked directly to Nami's room and carefully set his weapon against the wall with his bedding, then went toward the kitchen to start learning how to cook.

As it turned out, Kai wasn't any better at cooking than he was at archery and he spent most of dinner apologizing to the other bandits as he served them. Most of them didn't seem too upset about the quality of the food, though Kai couldn't help wondering how much of that was pity for the new guy.

Once he was finished with his chores, Kai went outside with a lantern and tied it up on the branch of the target tree, then moved back to the line in the dirt that Goh had made for him. He had been encouraged that afternoon when he'd finally managed to get an arrow stuck in the tree, though it was nowhere near the target.

_I have to do this_, he thought, lining up a shot. _I can't call myself a man if I can't even help defend the mountain_. He pulled back the bowstring and was about to fire when he heard a voice coming from the fortress.

"What're ya up to out there in the middle of the night?" Kai looked over his shoulder and saw Genrou leaning out the window to call to him. "Dontcha have chores or somethin' to do?" He looked half-amused and Kai shook his head.

"I've already washed the dishes, cleaned out the tubs, and drawn some fresh water. I thought I would get a little more practice in." As if punctuating his sentence, Kai let an arrow fly, wobble and hit the roots of the tree.

"Looks like ya need all the practice ya can get." Kai bit back the words he wanted to say, afraid that it would make Genrou angry with him. He wanted to say that he was working as hard as he knew how but it sounded so much like whining that he forced himself to be quiet. "Ain't ya got anything to say about it?" It was as if he'd read Kai's mind and he took another arrow out of the quiver.

"I'd rather spend my time practicing," Kai said honestly. In response to this, Genrou vaulted over the windowsill and landed silently on the ground below. He went over to where Kai was standing and put his hands on his hips.

"Is that so?" Genrou was grinning, revealing a hint of his fangs. "At least ya got the right attitude. Lemme help ya out a little."

"Help me?"

"Here." Genrou put an arm around Kai so he could help him get the proper form. He put a hand on Kai's and helped him draw back the string. His added strength made it go back more smoothly and Kai found himself blushing when his back pressed against Genrou's chest. He wasn't sure whether it was his imagination or not, but he thought he could feel the leader's heart beating. Genrou let go of the bow string but Kai, distracted, didn't and the arrow plopped to the ground. Genrou scowled at him. "Ya sure you're serious about this?"

"I-I am!" Kai's cheeks were on fire and he bent down to pick up the arrow, hitting Genrou in the stomach with the end of his bow as he did.

"Oof!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Kai stood back up, then bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry, Kashira!" He didn't know if his cheeks could get any redder but it certainly felt like they had. He bowed again, keeping his eyes on the ground, only to feel something hard and flat smack him on top of the head.

"Enough with the bowin,'" he said, his voice more than just tinged with irritation. "Ya think I'm gonna kick ya outta here for bein' clumsy? I ain't that much of an asshole."

Kai wanted to tell him that he wasn't an asshole at all, that he was sorry for hitting him, and that he would very much like for him to continue giving him lessons, but it was all pushed out of his mind by his curiosity about what Genrou had hit him on the head with.

"Your problem's that you ain't strong enough to shoot yet. The string's so tight you're gonna need more arm strength to get it back to where ya can make it go further." Genrou took the bow from Kai's hand and sent five arrows at the tree in quick succession. Every one of them hit the center of their mark and he looked over at Kai. "See?"

"Yeah," Kai said, impressed. Not only was he fast and strong, he was also an excellent archer. Kai wondered what other things he was good at. Genrou went to the tree to collect his arrows, then looked thoughtfully at the tree. He kept his eyes on the ground as he walked back to where Kai was standing, then stopped and scratched a mark in the ground with the toe of his boot.

"C'mere." He motioned for Kai to join him and the boy hurried over. "Shoot from there."

"Okay." Kai took his bow back and put an arrow on the string. Holding his breath, he let go of the string and to his surprise the arrow hit the tree. It wasn't in one of the target circles but it still made it and he resisted the urge to jump up and down.

"There. Ain't that better?"

"Yes, much," Kai said, taking out another arrow. "Thank you, Kashira."

"No problem. Just work on hittin' the targets and ya can move the line back when ya get stronger." He clapped Kai on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get stronger fast doin' all our chores. That's how it was with me."

"Really?" This was interesting to Kai, who suddenly felt a relief wash over him. He didn't know if he'd ever be as skilled as Genrou, but the possibility of improving to even a quarter of his level made him happy. It rekindled the fire of hope that had been in his chest when he first arrived.

"Yup. Ya gotta crawl before ya can run," Genrou said, still grinning. "I knew a guy who'd say that all the time. Just keep practicin' and you'll do fine." He looked up at the moon and judged its position in the sky. "Why dontcha get to bed," he said. "It's gettin' late."

Kai nodded his agreement, fetched his arrow, and followed Genrou into the fortress. They walked together through the hallways and Genrou stopped in front of the leader's room. Kai couldn't help wondering what it was like inside – he had only gotten a second's look when he'd opened the door by mistake – but before he could get a glimpse, Genrou pointed down the hall.

"Your room's down the hall a little," he said. When Kai looked at him in surprise, he shrugged. "I figured you'd probably get lost again without some help."

"Thanks," Kai said, blushing again. It seemed to be a running theme and he started down the hall. He realized too late that he wanted to wish the leader a good night, but when he turned around Genrou had already disappeared into his room.

Nami was already in bed when Kai pushed open the door but the lantern was still burning. As quietly as possible, Kai laid out his blanket and pillow alongside the bed and crawled underneath them after blowing out the lamp. The enormous bandit was breathing quietly and Kai sighed deeply, flopping over onto his back and staring at the darkness that he knew was the ceiling. His mind kept returning to the feeling of Genrou's arms around him and he grinned to himself.

"Go to sleep, kid," Nami said, as if Kai had spoken. The boy rolled over and pulled the covers up to his chin.

"Yes sir, Aniki."

"That's gonna get old real fast," sighed Nami, more to himself than to Kai. "How come I've gotta be stuck with a kid like you? Maybe my karma's outta whack or somethin' from bein' a bandit." He continued to mutter to himself about talking Genrou out of this while Kai, tired out from his practice and chores started to drift off. "You listenin' to me, kid?" The only answer he got was a small snore and he groaned. "Great. Just great."


	4. Downpour

The rainy season always slowed down the bandits' "work," and with most of them staying indoors, Kai had extra work doing chores. Laundry suddenly piled up because he couldn't hang them out to dry. Calls for food weren't limited to mealtimes, and he was forever running to get another bottle of sake for his seniors. To make matters worse, all the extra running around he was doing combined with the rain made it impossible to practice his archery.

"Stupid rain," Kai said as he stood over the wok, stir-frying vegetables. In the two weeks he had been with the bandits his cooking skills had improved significantly, and while he was far from being an expert cook, he had at least achieved a level that kept the others from asking if what he made was going to kill them.

He had also gotten faster getting the plates on the table, so he was actually able to have meals with the rest of the crew once he had served them all their drinks. It was a nice feeling, sitting around the table with them and listening to their stories, though it did make him a little jealous that they were all out having adventures while he was stuck sorting laundry and scrubbing dishes.

Once he was finished eating, Kai got up to take the plates into the kitchen. There was a full load as usual and he started washing them right away in the cold water from earlier in the day. He had drawn it in the morning before the rain started and wasn't about to go out to fetch more in this weather.

"Why'd I have to come up here during the rainy season?" The water was cold enough to send a shock of pain through Kai's hands and he winced. He started scrubbing in the hopes his hands would either go numb or warm up quickly.

Kai finished the dishes in record time and set them out to dry. He was thinking it would be nice to have some warm sake after that unpleasant experience and had just about decided to take some to the rest of the men when a knock on the door that led from the kitchen to the outside caught his attention. Without hesitation, he went to it and opened it. There was no one out there, only a curtain of fat droplets of rain. Kai stepped out under the overhang so that he was protected and looked around.

"Is somebody out here?" No one answered and he took a step further. "Hello?" The door slammed behind Kai and he sighed heavily as he went back to it. _Should have known_. "Come on guys, joke's over. Let me back in," he said, banging on the door. There was no answer and the door wouldn't open. "Guys! Dammit!" Kai slammed his hand against the door and leaned back on it to look out at the rain. _Great_.

With the door shut, there was no alternative but for Kai to walk around to the front. He tried his best to stay under the overhang but it stopped at the corner of the building and the porch didn't start until the other wall. Not that he would be able to get up on it with the boards slippery from the rain. Kai sighed again, ducked his head, and ran for the front of the fortress.

By the time he made it back inside the building, his clothes were soaked and his hair was plastered to his forehead. The sound of laughter somewhere in the fortress followed him down the hall and he wondered if they were laughing at him or something else. It sounded like it was coming from the direction of the kitchen and he had a pretty good idea about which one it was.

"Never gonna live this-" His head was down, so when he bumped into someone, he didn't realize who it was right away.

"Watch where you're goin,' huh?"

"Sorry, I-" Kai looked up and realized he'd just bumped into Genrou, who was smirking down at him with a raised eyebrow. "Kashira! I'm so sorry! I didn't, I mean, I'll watch where I'm going. Sorry, sir." Kai bowed repeatedly and Genrou laughed, shaking his head.

"No need to freak out on me or nothin,' I'm just givin' ya a hard time." He looked out at the rain, which was coming down in sheets now. "I remember when they locked me out in the rain. Seems a lot funnier now that I'm older."

"I'm glad I could amuse you," Kai said before he could stop himself. He half-expected another whack on the head but was relieved when it didn't come. _What is wrong with you? Can't you just keep your mouth shut for once?_

"'S what you're here for," Genrou said with a smirk. "You're probably gonna wanna get outta those clothes before ya catch a cold," he went on. "Check in the storage room, see if there's somethin' ya can wear in there."

"Yes, sir." Kai walked past him in the direction of the storage room, his eyes on the floor. He was aware that Genrou was following him but was afraid of asking him what he was doing. For an instant Kai wondered if maybe he thought he was going to steal something. After all, he had proved that he was a good thief. But Nami hadn't followed him into the storage room, so it had to be something else. He kept walking until they reached the storage room, then pushed open the door.

Leaving wet footprints on the floor, Kai trudged across the room and started sorting through the pile of clothes. There was a long, high-necked top, a black shirt and some pants that actually looked like they'd be a better fit for Kai than the ones he was wearing, all of which he took.

"Ya should probably get some boots instead of those shoes," Genrou commented. "Once we get ya runnin' up and down the mountain those shoes ain't gonna hold up." He looked around. "What about those over there?"

"I'll try them," Kai said, picking up the black boots. "Thank you for your help, Kashira."

"It's nothin,'" Genrou said with a shrug. "Least I could do to keep ya from gettin' sick. Then who'd we get to take care of all the chores around here?" For some reason these words stung Kai. Even though he knew that the chores were his and his alone, he had hoped that Genrou saw him as more of an asset to the group than that.

"I'm just going to go change," Kai said. "I'll be sure to put my things in the laundry so they're not dripping all over the place." He headed for his and Nami's room, careful to hold the fresh clothes away from his body so he wouldn't get them wet. Once again he noticed that Genrou was following him and he decided that this was because his room was on the same end of the hall as the leader's room. Without a word to the man behind him, he went into his room and closed the door.

Dry clothes replaced the wet ones quickly and Kai stepped into the new boots, half-expecting them not to fit. When they did he was pleasantly surprised and walked around the room in them to get the feel of them. They certainly felt sturdier than his current shoes and he made a mental note to thank Genrou when he saw him again.

When he stepped back out of the room with his wet clothes in a ball, he was once again surprised to find Genrou leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest.

"Took ya long enough," he said.

"Sorry," Kai said, holding the wet clothes away from his dry ones now. "I'm just going to go put these with the other laundry. Thank you for your help, Kashira. I really appreciate it," he said honestly.

"Don't take everything so serious, kid," Genrou said, pushing himself off the wall and walking beside Kai. "I was just kiddin' with ya about the chores. We got 'em taken care of before ya showed up, we'd get 'em taken care of without ya." This clarification only made Kai cringe more and Genrou seemed to notice. "That didn't come out right. Well, ya know what I mean."

"Not really," Kai said, pushing open the door to the room where all the bandits tossed their laundry. It was a mountain of dirty clothes, some stained with food and others with blood or dirt, all of which Kai would be washing when the rain let up. It was true. He really didn't have any idea whether Genrou was saying that they needed him or not.

"What I'm sayin' is that we'd miss ya if ya got sick, but if ya do we can handle it without ya so ya wouldn't hafta worry about it."

"I'll do my best not to get sick," Kai said. "I can't imagine what this place would look like without my particular brand of care." Instead of tossing his laundry on top of the rest, he unrolled the ball and carefully put his clothes on the table. "It'd be a travesty."

"A what?"

"Something bad."

"Oh. Makes sense." Genrou grinned at him. "Where'd ya learn to talk all fancy like that, anyway?"

"I went to school when I was younger," Kai said, turning back to the leader. "And I enjoy reading." He smiled. "A lot of times, I would steal books from the sellers at the market, then return them after I was finished. Most times they wouldn't even know they were gone."

"I ain't surprised. You're pretty quick. I guess part of that's 'cause you're small. I was pretty impressed when ya tried to hit me. If it'd been just about anybody else, you probably would have given them a good one." He was still grinning and Kai returned his smile, happy to hear it. "Ya know, the way ya talk reminds me of a friend of mine."

"A good friend?"

"One of the best," Genrou said. "He was real cultured, and a hell of a nice guy. Pretty much always calm and collected, one of those guys." There was a hint of longing in his voice and Kai watched his face closely. "He talked a lot like ya."

"Was?"

"Yeah," Genrou's smile faltered. "He was killed during the war with Kutou. By one of the Seiryuu Shichiseishi."

"Oh," Kai said, not knowing how else to reply. "I'm sorry."

"It's been a long time," Genrou said with a shrug. "No point in gettin' all worked up over it now." He looked around the laundry room. "Kinda lettin' it get away from ya, aren't ya?"

"It's raining," Kai said defensively. "What am I going to do, hang them all up in here? I'm sure that'd be great while we're playing cards."

"Yeah, like you ever play cards."

"I might if someone asked me," muttered Kai. It was a sore spot with him that no one ever invited him to play cards or gamble with them, and that it seemed only grudgingly that some of the bandits let him drink with them. Genrou raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, fine, ya wanna play cards?"

"I don't know how."

"Then why're ya complainin' about it?" Genrou smacked him on the back of the head, a gesture that actually made Kai smile once he got over the shock. He turned to Genrou with a scowl. "Next thing ya know, you'll be askin' me to pour drinks for ya."

"Of course not," Kai said, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm not that kind of guy."

"What kind is that?"

"Never mind." He pushed a pile of laundry with his foot, wondering as he did when the rain was going to stop, then went toward the door. He didn't want to look at it longer than he had to. It only made him depressed, thinking about how much work he had cut out for him when the sun came back out. Genrou went out first and Kai followed close behind him. He wanted to talk more to Genrou, even if he sounded like an idiot, and came up with something he hoped would lead to a longer conversation. "So what do we do when we're not stealing things?"

"Don't say it like that. We protect this mountain," Genrou said. "The leader before me said that Mt. Leikaku sees the good and evil of the people who pass through it. It's our job to make sure the good people pass through safely and the evil ones surrender their things."

"Oh," Kai said, turning this over in his head.

"If ya think about it another way, it's like the mountain could see your intentions and let ya come up here. So the mountain picked ya, just like it picked me and probably the others too." This was a comforting thought to Kai, who was still in awe of everything he saw. Genrou leaned against the wall with his arms over his chest and looked outside. It was difficult to make out the mountain through the rain but he stared at some far-off thing. "Just, y'know, keep it in mind."

"I will." Kai watched his face as he looked out into the rain and wondered what he was thinking. He wanted to ask but knew it would sound insolent, and he didn't want to spoil the precious time that they were spending together. "So you got locked out in the rain, too?"

"Yeah, some of the guys that were here when I first came to the mountain are still here and they probably thought it was funny to lock ya out too." He turned back to Kai and smiled. "Ya better get used to it and watch your back."

"I will, believe me." They were silent for a moment, then Genrou spoke again.

"What do ya think so far? We ain't scared ya off yet, I guess, since you're still hanging around here. Ya think you've got what it takes to make it as one of us?"

"Maybe? I mean, I still can't shoot an arrow without being close enough to the tree to pick off a leaf and I've never done anything besides wash clothes and dishes. I hardly think that qualifies me to be a bandit." Kai was aware that his tone was drifting into dangerous territory but Genrou didn't seem to mind it.

"Guess ya got a point there. But we can't letcha out into the mountain without bein' able to defend yourself. Unless ya can take care of yourself, you're stuck in here for the time bein.'" Seeing the look on Kai's face that his words caused, Genrou shrugged. "Sorry, kid. I had to go through the same thing when I was your age."

"I'll practice more," Kai spoke up. "I'll get faster with my chores so I can have more time to practice my archery. Then will you let me help protect the mountain?"

"Oh, ya think you're gonna protect the mountain, small as ya are?" Genrou put his hands on his hips and leaned toward Kai, smirking. "Ya might be able to protect a tree or two but ya got a long time before you'll be any good to the mountain."

"Just watch me!" Kai put his hands on his own hips and leaned toward Genrou. "I'm gonna be the best bandit you've ever seen!" With that he strode away from the leader toward his room, leaving Genrou standing by the window, still smirking.

_If there's one thing the kid's got goin' for him, it's guts. Can't remember the last time a new guy talked to me like that._

Shaking his head, Genrou went back toward his room and found Kouji knocking on the door. He decided to interrupt his friend's comedy routine before it could get off the ground and tapped him on the shoulder. Kouji looked back at him in surprise.

"Where were you?"

"Went to the storage room," Genrou replied honestly. "Somethin' was buggin' me about the silk we took from that merchant that was usin' his business as a front. Turns out it wasn't silk, it was just real nice quality material."

"Nice enough to sell?"

"Sure, but we ain't gonna be sellin' it as silk." They went into the leader's room together and Genrou flopped back into his chair. "Should still get a pretty decent price for it, though." He jerked his thumb at the window. "Soon as this rain lets up we're gonna have to check all the traps. Half of 'em are probably layin' in the mud right now."

"At least no one's really comin' through the mountains right now," Kouji said. "At some point we've gotta get down to the city and pick up supplies." Genrou nodded and looked up at the ceiling. He'd been doing it for more than a decade but sometimes being the leader was kind of tedious. There were hundreds of things that he had to deal with that had nothing to do with demanding tolls or sword fighting, or whatever else he'd imagined when he first thought he'd be a bandit. An idea came to him suddenly and he sat up straight, something that didn't go unnoticed by Kouji. "Somethin' wrong?"

"Huh?" Genrou looked up at him, then leaned back in his chair again. "It's nothin.'" For some reason Genrou didn't want to tell Kouji that he'd talked to Kai in the hallway. He didn't know why; he rarely kept anything from his friend and hadn't since they were teenagers. There was just something about Kai that he wanted to keep to himself. "What were ya comin' to talk to me about?"

"They said the emperor was plannin' to come through the mountains to the Souun palace. With your, y'know, history and the Mt. Kaou bandits actin' up, I didn't know if you'd want us to act like an advance guard for 'em."

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea. Send a message to the palace and tell 'em that the Mt. Leikaku bandits will make sure they make it through the mountains safely." Kouji nodded his agreement, then excused himself to write the letter and draft someone to go out in the rain and take it to the castle.

As soon as he was gone, Genrou got up and went to the table by the window. There was a small, carved wooden box on top of it and he opened it up. Inside was a litter of jewelry that he rarely if ever wore, something that looked like a broken seashell, and a strange thing he had been saving for years. It was this last thing he picked up, sliding the jewelry off it carefully.

It was a piece of shiny paper that, impossibly, bore his image as well as the images of the rest of the Suzaku Shichiseishi and Suzaku no Miko, Miaka. It had been taken by an odd box that Miaka had called a 'camera' before they boarded the boat that would take them to search for the relics that would allow them to summon Suzaku and protect the country.

Carefully, so as not to damage the well-worn picture, Genrou ran his thumb over the faces that smiled out at him. It was the last time they had all been together. Nuriko was alive and putting on his best coy smile, Chichiri was wearing his fox-eyed mask, and Miaka was smiling in that open, optimistic way that only she had.

A stab of loneliness went through his chest at the same time a smile worked its way across his face. They were the best friends he'd ever had, even closer than Kouji because they had shared so much, had been through so much. He'd even traveled to the world of the Mikos once with Chichiri to help Tamahome and Miaka fight the final battle against Seiryuu. Everything they'd done was part of his destiny and as painful as some of it was to remember, he would never regret any of it. Especially meeting _her_.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky outside the window but Genrou didn't take his eyes off the photograph. He wanted to remember it all right now, even the painful parts. Though thoughts of the Suzaku Shichiseishi were never too far from his mind, there was something about the way Kai talked that reminded him of Hotohori and Chiriko. He wasn't showing off when he spoke in his almost-refined way just like they had never been either. It was just the way they spoke and sometimes it made him feel a little stupid, but he loved them just the same.

Unbidden, Kai's face appeared in his head, and his smile became wider. The boy couldn't seem to decide if he was nervous around him or wanted to talk back and the disparity actually made him happy. He didn't want subordinates who never questioned him, that had been Eiken's sole domain. Hakurou would never have wanted it either. Either way, living with the bandits was definitely rubbing off on him.

_Maybe I'll go down and visit Kashira_, he thought absently as he put the picture back in his jewelry box. _Haven't been down there in a while. _He closed the lid carefully and went over to his dresser where he took off his outer shirt and tossed it over the rack. Remembering how Kai had walked in on him, he automatically turned to make sure no one was in the room before he took off the shirt underneath and folded it as carefully as he knew how, then put on a plain white shirt and a pair of beige pants, his usual sleeping attire.

Out of nowhere he wondered if Kai was already asleep. After hauling and washing dishes, then getting stuck out in the rain, he supposed the kid must be tired. From what Nami told him, Kai fell asleep almost instantly at night, covered by the blanket he'd given him on the first night and stretched out on the floor. Genrou remembered those days well and hoped the boy had enough sense to get another couple of blankets from the storage room.

He blew out the lanterns in his room and lay down on the bed but didn't go to sleep. The red character was glowing on his arm again, likely from his memories of the past but he hardly noticed it. He was more interested in thinking about his friends and about her.

_I'm glad she's happy,_ he thought. _So how come I feel so lousy?_

In the room down the hall from Genrou's, Kai curled up under his blanket on the floor. Its hardness was dampened by two folded-up blankets he'd gotten from the storage room. The original blanket was still the one Genrou had given him and he hadn't washed it for fear that the leader's scent might be lost. He couldn't very well ask for another so he took care of it instead, knowing that eventually he would have to wash it.

"Comfortable down there?" Nami asked this from his place on the bed, not even rolling over to address Kai. The boy nodded in the darkness and hugged his pillow. "Ya sleepin' already?"

"Not yet," Kai said.

"You're usually snorin' by now," Nami observed. "Somethin' buggin' ya?"

"No," Kai said. "And I'm sorry. I didn't know I snored." There was a snort from the bed and Nami rolled over. It was still too dark to see him but Kai knew he was facing him by the sound of his voice. "How long have you been a bandit, Aniki?"

"About five years now."

"And Kashira was the leader the whole time?"

"Uh-huh. Why?"

"Just wondering." Kai sat up and looked in Nami's general direction. "Do you think you'll be a bandit forever?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Just asking," Kai said, backing away from the annoyance in his roommate's voice. "I plan on staying here for the rest of my life. I was just wondering if you felt the same way." There was no answer and he laid back down. "I feel safe here. Maybe for the first time in my life. There's no way I'm ever leaving you guys."

"Great. Thirty guys in this place and I get stuck with the one that can't shut up at bedtime." Kai heard Nami roll over and the bedclothes rustle and he sighed.

"You're the one who asked," Kai said, nettled.

"I didn't ask for your life story," he said impatiently. Kai laid back down and pulled the covers up to his chin. He didn't know why he thought he should share this with Nami but there was something about the older bandit that made him want to open up. Not that he could tell him everything, but he wanted him to know something about him.

"Sorry, Aniki," Kai said to Nami's back. "I'll try to wake up and be out of your way in the morning before you wake up."

"Don't bother. I can just step over you. You're like a twig." There was no response to this from Kai and Nami seemed to relent. "Just go to sleep, willya?"

"Yes, Aniki." There was a long silence between them and before too long, Kai was snoring lightly again. Nami sighed heavily. This had been the longest two weeks of his life so far and it only looked like it was going to continue.

_Thanks a lot, Kashira._


	5. Unskillful Steps

"Hey, Kai, can I talk to ya for a minute?"

"Huh?" Kai looked over his shoulder from his place at the washtub and saw Genrou standing in the doorway. "Uh, yeah. Sure." He stood up and dried his hands on a nearby shirt, grateful for the break from washing clothes. Part of him wondered what the leader could want with him, and a seed of dread that he was going to be told that he was being sent back down the mountain unfurled in his head.

"C'mon." Genrou motioned for Kai to follow him and Kai looked back at the laundry, wishing for the first time that he could go back to it.

"Kashira, if this is about the plates I already feel stupid enough. I swear I'll pay for them out of my, uh, my earnings. As soon as I get some, I mean." Genrou looked at him and he held up his hands. "N-not that I'm trying to say I should get out and earn something! I don't mean to rush you or anything!"

"I ain't mad about the plates," Genrou said. "I guess I'm kinda impressed ya actually told Kouji about 'em instead of just hidin' 'em." He looked at Kai closely. "How come every time ya do somethin' stupid ya think I'm gonna get rid of ya?"

"Because it seems like I'm always doing stupid things," Kai said before he could stop himself. This made Genrou laugh.

"And everyone else around here doesn't?" They walked together down the hall and Kai looked up at him, smiling behind his back. He turned to look at Kai, who turned his eyes away and blushed. He really hoped Genrou didn't see this last thing. "I know you're still learnin' with the bow," Genrou said, leading him to the weapons room again. "But I want ya to learn how to do somethin' that's more close range." He held a slender sword out to Kai. "This one's yours. Keep it with ya. Don't ever wanna be stuck without somethin' to protect yourself if someone gets in close."

"Thank you, Kashira." Kai reached out to take the sword and as soon as Genrou let go of it, the blade fell forward and hit the ground while Kai attempted clumsily to lift it. His arms wobbled as he pulled the sword's tip off the floor, then knelt down to make sure he hadn't made a dent. "Sorry," he said, blushing harder than when he was watching Genrou. "It's, uh, it's heavier than I expected."

"It's the lightest one we've got," Genrou said, shaking his head. "You're just gonna have to get used to it. Start by gettin' it off the ground, then Nami can help ya learn to fight with it." He grinned at Kai good-naturedly. "Maybe one of these days ya can even challenge me and Kouji."

"Then that's what I'll aim for," Kai said, forcing the sword upward. It swung wildly and Genrou took a quick step back.

"Hey, ya tryin' to kill me or somethin'?"

"Sorry," Kai said again, letting the end of the sword down again. "Maybe I should just practice by myself for a little while. After I finish the laundry," he said quickly, not wanting Genrou to think he was shirking his duties.

"Probably a good idea." Genrou stepped around Kai, giving him a wide berth just in case he tried to swing the sword again. Kai sighed and looked down at the sword.

_ Great_, he thought_. Another thing around here for me to be lousy at. Maybe I'll just forget about fighting and be their housekeeper._

"Hey," Genrou said from the doorway, and Kai looked up quickly. For a moment he wondered if he'd spoken aloud and his heart thundered in his chest. The last thing he wanted was for Genrou to think he was giving up. That would be worse than failure. "You're doin' fine," he went on encouragingly. "Nobody picks all this stuff up in a couple of months. Just be glad your food ain't givin' anybody stomachaches anymore and be happy."

"Yes, sir." His advice dispensed, Genrou went on down the hall, not knowing he had made Kai's face burn again. The younger of the two watched the older go until he could no longer see his bright orange hair with a sigh.

Kai wanted desperately for Genrou to understand how much he admired him, how much he wanted him to be proud of his progress, but the progress seemed unwilling to come. He tried to lift the sword, another gift from Genrou, again and managed to get it off the ground for a few seconds. _I have to do this_, he said, all thoughts of giving up chased from his mind. _I can't let Kashira down_. Genrou's praise made him dizzy with happiness and he wanted to get better at archery and sword fighting so he could hear more of it. Kai hefted the sword onto his shoulder and carried it in the direction of the laundry room. There were still a lot of shirts to wash.

Once he was finished and everything had been hung out to dry, Kai dragged his sword into the yard and over to Nami, who was sparring with another bandit. He watched closely as their weapons clashed, hoping to somehow pick up pointers.

"What do you want?" Nami asked his question without so much as turning to Kai, who held up the sword as best he could. "Where'd you get that?"

"Kashira gave it to me. He wants me to learn to fight with it."

"And I guess he wants me to show you," sighed Nami. "All right," he said, lowering his weapon. "Bring it over here and let's see how you swing it."

"I'm not-" Kai looked embarrassedly from one bandit to the other. "-I think I need to work on getting it off the ground first."

"Aw, c'mon," the other bandit said, grinning. "Let's see what ya can do, kid." With both of them staring at him, Kai swung the sword clumsily and to his horror, the grip slid through his fingers and the sword went flying. Nami sidestepped it just in time for it to plant itself point-first into the hard packed ground. There was a long silence into which Kai ventured a sheepish smile.

"I think I need more practice." He went over to the sword and began trying to pull it out of the ground. It was stuck firmly and he tugged as hard as he could to no end.

"You ain't kiddin' about that," Nami said, plucking the sword out as easily as a blade of grass. "You're gonna kill someone with skills like that." Kai resisted the urge to tell him that he'd said he needed more practice and continued to smile his shaky smile.

"I'm sorry, Aniki."

"How about this? You pick up and put down that sword a hundred times, that'll get your arm muscles stronger." It seemed like a reasonable suggestion to Kai and he nodded vigorously. "Okay, then get to it."

"Right!" Kai immediately began raising and bringing the sword down while Nami and the other bandit watched. They weren't the only ones, either. Genrou watched from the porch with his arms folded over his chest and smiled, then went inside to find Kouji. He wanted him to see this.

000

The next day was an important one for Genrou and Kouji. It was time for them to go down the mountain to Souun with some of the non-monetary treasure they'd collected as tolls and "liberated" from unscrupulous businessmen and money lenders that had the bad fortune of crossing the path of the Mt. Leikaku bandits.

"You think two horses are gonna be enough?" Kouji stood with Genrou at the window, looking at a long piece of paper with strings of characters written on it. "We could always take the wagon."

"Yeah, I don't think we hafta go that far. Next big market day we can take more so we get a better price for those textiles." He looked out the window and over at the stable, then frowned when he saw Kai standing in front of it with a horse that looked like it would rather be back in the stable.

After considering the horse, which was tied to a post, Kai picked up a saddle and took it over to try and put it on the horse. A look of surprise crossed his face and it was obvious it took a good deal of effort to pick it up. Nevertheless, he tried to heft it up on the horse only for it to miss its mark and fall on the ground. Glancing around to see if anyone was watching him, Kai dusted off the saddle and went back for another try.

"Are you seeing this?" Kouji jerked his thumb at the sight out the window and Genrou nodded, leaning against the windowsill.

"Saddest thing I've ever seen," Genrou said, watching Kai attempt again to throw the saddle over the horse's back. Just as he got it up high enough, the horse stepped sideways and the saddle ended up on the ground again. "I thought when he was gonna hit me he was stronger than that."

"Me too." They watched in silence as the boy picked up the saddle again, this time dusting it off a little more before going over to the horse to try again. This time he brought the horse over to the side of the stable so it couldn't step away from him and used one knee to help him get the saddle up high enough. Genrou was impressed with his balance and he decided the boy just needed some training to get stronger. "What's he up to this time?"

"You've gotta give him credit for not givin' up," Genrou said. Kouji nodded his agreement.

"Yeah, no kidding. There's plenty of guys who would've given up by now. Doesn't make it any less painful to watch. I'm gonna go pack up the stuff. I'll meet you outside." Genrou nodded and Kouji took a last look out the window and shook his head.

Once Kouji was gone, Genrou watched Kai a little longer. There was definitely something interesting about the boy. He was hardworking and eager to please, but more than that he seemed intelligent in a way that reminded him of Hakurou, the man who had led the Mt. Leikaku bandits before him. If anything were to happen to him, Kouji would be the one to take over, but he could see Kai being the new second-in-command easily.

Outside, Kai had finally managed to get the saddle on the horse and was examining the straps to figure out how to secure it. No one was coming to help him but he seemed to be doing all right on his own. Genrou was half-certain that when he tried to get on the saddle it was going to slide right off but that was for the boy to learn.

Genrou leaned on the windowsill as he looked out at the battle going on between man and beast. Kai's face was red with effort but still he worked on, bringing out the harness and trying to get it on the horse. The horse wasn't having any of it, though, and kept shaking its head. Refusing to give up, Kai moved in from another angle but he was just too short for the horse he had picked and Genrou straightened up, checking to make sure his tessen was hanging it from his belt as he went.

When he made it out to the stable, Kai was still trying to get the harness on the horse with little success and the leader grabbed it from his hand as gently as he could without startling the boy.

"Here," he said. "Lemme help ya with that."

"My arms are just a little tired from sword practice," Kai said, his tone defiant. "I can do it." Genrou laughed.

"Yeah, I've been watchin' you try and do it. You've gotta learn how to pick your horses," he said, easily harnessing the horse and settling the bit in its mouth. "Though I guess we don't really have any horses your size."

"I don't need a smaller horse," Kai said, looking off toward the stable petulantly. "This one's fine."

"You've got the strap under the saddle twisted too," Genrou said, ignoring him. "And ya hafta make sure the stirrups are fastened securely." He pointed out the errors in the saddle, noticing that Kai's face fell a little with each direction. For some reason this made him feel guilty. "It's all right," he said hurriedly. "It's your first time, right? Nobody does it right their first time. At least this way ya won't go slidin' off the side."

"Thank you, Kashira." Kai's voice was quiet and Genrou was struck by a sudden burst of inspiration.

"Hey, you wanna come with Kouji and me into town?"

"Me?" Kai looked at him, shocked by his words. Genrou nodded.

"Yeah. We've gotta take some stuff down to sell. Ya may as well learn how to haggle for a good price if you're gonna be with us." All the uncertainty had disappeared from Kai's face, replaced with an excitement that was expected but still good to see.

"You really don't mind taking me along?"

"Nah. Ya better bring your sword, though." Kai gave him a dubious look and he shrugged. "Who knows, ya might be able to whack someone on the head with it or somethin.' Or just throw it at them. You're pretty good at that."

"It's just heavy," Kai said defensively. "I'll get it, though." He left the horse with Genrou, who immediately started setting the saddle up properly. Kouji came outside with a sack in each hand and watched with interest as Kai ran past him. He joined Genrou by the horse and nodded toward the door where Kai had disappeared.

"What was that about? You make him cry or something?"

"I told him to get his sword and come with us." This earned him a raised eyebrow from Kouji, who handed him one of the sacks. "He's been workin' hard, I figured he earned himself a break." Genrou led the horse back to the stable and tied it up so he could get his own horse. He could feel Kouji's look as he loaded the saddlebag. "What?"

"Just wondering why you're so interested in this kid."

"I ain't _interested_ in him," Genrou said, rolling his eyes and tightening the strap on the saddlebag. "But he's gotta learn to do stuff around here other than chores." He smirked. "I still ain't forgotten how miserable it was bein' the new guy."

"You were about as pathetic," Kouji said, loading up his own horse. "At least Kai started out being able to steal stuff. You didn't have anything but a bunch of dirty clothes and an attitude problem." The door to the fortress slid open again and Kai came out with his sword strapped to his back and a grin on his face.

"I fixed your horse for ya," Genrou said, pointing to the horse Kai had been trying to saddle. He put his foot in the stirrup and tossed his leg over the horse, noticing that Kai was somewhat hesitant. Something occurred to Genrou and he narrowed his eyes. "Have ya ever actually rode a horse before?"

"N-not exactly," Kai said, rubbing the horse's neck nervously. "But it can't be that hard, right? I mean you just get up in the saddle and hold on."

"Here," Kouji said, taking pity on Kai and holding the horse still so he could get on it. Kai got his foot in the stirrup but was having trouble pulling himself up. With an impatient sigh, Kouji laced his hands together and held them out for Kai to use as a step. "We oughta make you run laps or something to get stronger."

"Sorry," Kai said, taking the reins. "I'll work harder, I promise."

"Don't kill yourself," Genrou said as Kouji mounted his horse. "The last thing we want is for ya to drop dead in the middle of the yard." This made Kai blush and Genrou nudged his horse forward. Kouji rode alongside him and Kai brought up the rear, watching the backs of the two men in front of him. Once they were outside the gates, Genrou looked back at him. There was something unsettling about having the boy behind him. "You doin' okay back there?"

"Yeah," Kai said with a thumbs-up and a smile. "It's even easier than I thought."

"Don't let your guard down," Genrou said. "Otherwise we're gonna be pullin' ya out of the bushes when ya get bucked off." This was a possibility that hadn't occurred to Kai and he suddenly looked alarmed. "Don't worry about it, you'll do fine."

It was a proclamation that turned out to be correct for the most part. Kai's horse had a habit of gaining on the other two, making Kouji's horse step faster when it was surprised. When he pulled back the reins to make it go slower, the horse stopped altogether and he had to kick it to make it go again, which meant it bumped into Kouji's horse again and started the process all over again.

They finally made it down to the road to Souun and Genrou turned to Kai.

"Once we get down here it's a little smoother. We'll be in town in another couple of minutes or-" A sharp twinge went through his body and he frowned. Someone was nearby, close enough to the mountain that he could feel it. He pulled up his horse short and Kouji and Kai did the same.

"What's wrong?" Kouji watched as Genrou looked around the road. He dismounted and walked carefully toward the bushes. Something was moving there and he held up a hand to Kouji and Kai. He pushed the bushes aside and stepped into them, taking his tessen off his back as he did. Anything could be lurking inside and he wanted to be ready.

But instead of a wild dog or cougar there was only a man who looked like he was waking up from a long sleep. He groaned and Genrou put his tessen back on his back and knelt down. "Hey, what happened to ya?"

"Huh?" The man opened his eyes just as Kouji and Kai came through the bushes, completely disregarding his orders. As soon as he saw Kai's sword, he sat up and crawled backwards away from them. "More bandits! I swear, I don't have any more money!"

"More?" Kouji and Genrou exchanged a look. "Are you saying that someone hit you over the head and took your money?"

"Yes! So please, don't hurt me!"

"We're not gonna hurt you," Kai said kindly, leaning down. "What happened to you?" There was obviously something soothing about the boy's voice because the man relaxed visibly and Genrou was grateful to him for that.

"I was walking down the road to Souun to buy a gift for my wife. It's our anniversary and I'd been saving all year to get her something nice. There were some men by the side of the road and they stopped me to ask if I was going into town. When I answered that I was, one of them grabbed me and held me while the other one went through my pockets. When I called for help, he hit me on the head and I guess he dragged me into the bushes."

"Dammit," Genrou said, shaking his head. "Must be the bandits from Mt. Kaou. I'm sorry about that," he said to the man. "We're from Mt. Leikaku and that ain't how we operate." He gestured to Kouji, who seemed to know immediately what the leader wanted. He went back to the horse, leaving Genrou and Kai with the man. "Don't ya worry though, we'll help ya out."

"Y-you will?" Kouji came back through the bushes and held out a hand to the man, who held out his palms cautiously. With a serious look on his face that didn't match Genrou's grin, he dropped some money and a string of pearls into the man's hands.

"That should buy your wife somethin' nice," Genrou said. "If ya wanna walk with us to the city ya can. We'll keep ya safe."

"Thank you," the man said incredulously. "Are you sure you're bandits?"

"Yeah," Genrou said, his grin widening. "We're the good kind."

They rode the rest of the way to Souun with the traveler walking alongside their horses. He looked a little uncertain but seemed to believe that they weren't out to hurt him. Kouji turned to Genrou, lowering his voice so the man and Kai couldn't hear them.

"Looks like they're up to their usual tricks," he said, nodding at the man. "They're gettin' bold, comin' over into the main road like this."

"I thought they were done for after their last leader dropped off the face of the earth," Genrou said. "Just goes to show ya some guys'll take advantage of anyone if they get the chance. Dunno how they always end up in those mountains, though."

"It's 'cause we take all the decent guys," Kouji said. "Good thing Mt. Leikaku's closer."

"We're gonna hafta put extra guys down here on the road to make sure the travelers don't get taken for everything they've got by these guys." He sighed. "I've got a bad feelin' about this." Kouji nodded and they both automatically looked back at Kai. The man they'd rescued was walking by Kai's horse and the two of them were chatting pleasantly. "Kid's got a way with people," Genrou said. "Maybe we should put him out on the road."

"Already?" Kouji frowned. "He's not even trained to do anything but the laundry and if he doesn't kill himself trying to swing that sword he'll probably manage to break his leg on one of the footpaths."

"So we'll train him. Put him down here with Nami, that'll keep him safe enough. And he made it up the mountain without fallin' in any holes or traps, he can't be _that_ clumsy." They looked back at Kai again and the boy looked at them curiously. As if on cue, the horse's hoof clipped a rock and sent it flying, causing Kai to grab his horse's reins in terror. The horse stopped in its tracks and the traveler looked at him uncertainly.

"I'm okay!" Kai kicked his horse, which moved forward before he was fully ready. He slid sideways on the saddle but pulled himself back quickly and grinned at Genrou and Kouji, who exchanged a look.

"Maybe he ain't ready after all."


	6. Learning The Ropes

Nami was only half-asleep when he heard the creak of the door opening and he rolled over in bed just in time to see Kai coming through it with a towel tossed over his shoulder. He frowned at the boy as he got closer, noticing his hair was wet just before the door closed and the room was plunged back into darkness. He could still hear the boy's footsteps and followed them with his eyes.

"Where've you been?"

"Nowhere," Kai said, tossing the towel aside and laying out the double layer of blankets that served as his bed. He'd gotten good at doing this in the dark but it had long since stopped impressing Nami. Kai laid down on them and pulled the blanket Genrou had given him up to his shoulders. "Just outside."

"Why's your hair wet, then?"

"Fine," Kai sighed. "I was taking a bath."

"In the middle of the night?"

"I realized I hadn't had one in a while when I started getting ready to go to sleep," he said. "I thought I'd get clean before I got my bed all dirty."

"Hmph." Nami rolled back over. He had serious doubts about the truth of the kid's story but figured that there was probably a good reason for it. There were other guys who didn't like to bathe with the others because they had things they wanted to hide or that would result in serious teasing among men, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. An unfortunate birthmark, maybe, or an even more unfortunate endowment. Given Kai's small stature, he had a feeling it was the latter. "You'd better get some sleep," he added into the silence. "I'm gonna put you through some serious training tomorrow."

"I'm looking forward to it," Kai said, his voice smiling. "At least I can keep my hands on it now." Nami couldn't help thinking this was true, but he didn't want to give the kid false hope. His current level was only slightly higher than it had been but as he had said, at least he wasn't flinging it around. He still couldn't hold his own in a fight, though. "Did you learn fast?"

"Great, here we go again," sighed Nami. "Can't you ever just go to bed?"

"I don't usually fall asleep right away."

"So you've gotta talk to me?" Kai was silent on this and Nami sighed again, heavily. "I already knew a little when I came here. Brought my own sword and everything. I had to learn more, though and I worked hard." He paused, then looked at where he knew Kai should be. "You're working hard too," he said grudgingly. "You're just not very strong yet."

"It feels like I'm never going to be strong," Kai said, and the uncertainty in his voice made Nami feel a little guilty about his last words. "I want Kashira to be proud of me, is all. I don't want him to think he made a mistake by letting me stay here."

"Is that all?" Nami laughed. "You don't gotta worry about that. He accepts pretty much anyone that doesn't have anywhere else to go. Even little thieves with skinny arms."

"My arms aren't that skinny," Kai said defensively, which only made Nami laugh more. "They aren't! Neither are my legs," he added. His skinny legs had been the target of that afternoon's practice session and Kai was getting a little tired of being told how small he was.

"You'll build 'em up sooner or later. Just stop being so sensitive about it. Otherwise the other guys are gonna keep teasing you. They'll get tired of it eventually." He failed to mention that it would probably take years but didn't feel it was the right time to burst Kai's bubble. "Now would you just go to sleep?"

"Yeah." Kai's blankets rustled and Nami was almost asleep when he heard "Thank you, Aniki" in a very small voice and he smiled, thinking maybe the kid wasn't so bad after all.

000

Kai was sitting on the porch of the living quarters, watching the other men train. A leather waterskin was sitting beside him and he could feel sweat trickling down his back but he felt good. He had moved back from the tree a little and was still able to hit it, though he still had trouble getting the arrows into the targets most times. Nami's words rang in his ears, though, and gave him strength. He was just about to go back to the line in the dirt when Genrou's voice came from behind him.

"Good job out there," he said, and his praise made Kai's chest expand. "It's about time we taught ya how to actually work around here."

"Actually work? What do you think I've been doing, having a party?" He stood up, picking up the waterskin as he did.

"That ain't what I meant," Genrou said, folding his arms over his chest. "I'm talkin' about gettin' ya started workin' on the road and traps and stuff like that. You're at least good enough with that sword that you won't kill yourself or Nami." He looked at Kai. "That's who you're gonna be workin' with most of the time." Privately, Kai thought that Nami was going to be less than thrilled with this turn of events but he kept his mouth shut. "Until you're ready, though, I'm gonna teach ya what to do."

"Yes sir, Kashira!" Kai slung his arrows over his back so enthusiastically that Genrou had to take a step back to avoid getting hit by them. "Sorry about that," he apologized.

"Sometimes I wonder how ya manage to stay standin.'" He turned and walked into the fortress and Kai followed him eagerly. Genrou's back, clad in a deep maroon with green accents on the sleeves made him feel completely at ease and he smiled. "We're gonna be walkin' a lot so I hope you're ready." He looked back at Kai, who nodded. "All right, then, let's get goin.'"

They walked together out of the fortress gates and onto one of the footpaths that led down to the road. It was the same one Kai had walked up to get to the top of the mountain and he felt a surge of affection for it, just as he did every time. He decided not to mention it to Genrou.

"First things first," he said, looking back at Kai. "Ya better keep up with me. Don't tell me you're already tired."

"No, I'm fine."

"Good." Genrou paused and waited for Kai to catch up with him and pointed to a path that forked off and went deeper into the mountain. "We'll go that way later but I want to show ya the actual places where we work first." They walked a little further down and he pointed to a place where the road narrowed. "It ain't often that people come up this far but just in case they're feelin' bold we put a couple of guys here. Usually if they're this far up they ain't up to any good so the guys here are usually strong ones." He raised an eyebrow at Kai. "Ya got a long way to go before you're up here."

"I understand."

"You'll be down on the main road," Genrou went on. "Most of the people who come through down there are regular travelers. Our usual toll is 5 mon unless we think they're up to somethin,' then we'll either take a bigger toll or take 'em for everything they've got. That means we've gotta know about most of the people who travel this road and trust what we get from the mountain."

"Yes, Kashira." Kai was trying to digest all this information and he was starting to feel like he should write it down when Genrou turned to him.

"Somethin' wrong? You're pretty quiet today."

"No, n-nothing," Kai said, holding up his hands. He didn't want to tell Genrou that he was dwelling on the fortress and how safe he felt for fear the leader would laugh at him, and he was having a nice time just walking with him so he didn't want to spoil it by making jokes. "So how do we tell who's up to something?"

"You'll hear people say stuff around town when we're down there, or you'll notice somethin' shifty about them when you ask for their toll. Most of the time the crooks'll try to get away with somethin' by tellin' ya they don't have any money. And like I said, you can kinda get a feelin' about what they're up to from the mountain. It may not make sense to ya now but you'll get it later."

"Hmm." Kai looked around the path and closed his eyes for a second, trying to feel the mountain's intention. There was nothing but the feeling of calm he'd felt when he first walked out of the fortress and he wondered if this was part of it. He didn't realize it but he had stopped walking and Genrou had continued on.

"There's a little restaurant we kinda run at the foot of the mountain," he was saying to the air by his side. "Ya get a little better at cookin,' we might get ya in there. We get some of our information by listenin' to what goes on there." He realized that Kai was suddenly not with him again and turned irritably. "What're ya doin' back there now?"

"Sorry!" Snapping out of his trance, Kai ran to catch up with Genrou. "I was just-" He paused, trying to decide if what he was about to say made him sound stupid. "-listening to the mountain," he finished lamely. To his relief, Genrou grinned.

"Don't worry, you'll get better at it," he said, reading Kai's mind.

"How long did it take you?"

"I ain't really a good example." Undeterred, Kai looked at him and he sighed. "I started feelin' it pretty much right away. But most guys it takes a while. Like I said, ya shouldn't worry about it."

_Easy for you to say_, Kai thought. _I want to feel the same things you do._ He watched Genrou continue to talk but didn't hear much of it. More interesting was the way his lips moved and the grin that always seemed to be on the edges of them. Kai hoped he would never stop smiling, even if it wasn't directed at him.

They reached the main road just in time to see a middle-aged man come up it, looking around nervously. No doubt he had heard rumors about bandits in the mountains and was hoping he wouldn't come across any. Genrou pointed him out, then strolled toward him casually and Kai followed, his attention no longer wandering.

"Hey there," Genrou said in a conversational tone of voice. "I got a feelin' that you're not used to travelin' through these mountains."

"N-no, I'm not," the man said, still walking. "B-but I'm just crossing them to get from Kou to Souun, that's all."

"Oh, you're from Kou? That's where I'm from," Genrou said, putting his arm around the man's shoulders. "Tell ya what, ya pay us the 5 mon toll for comin' through our mountain and we'll make sure ya get to Souun safely. How's that?"

"Toll?" The man looked from Genrou to Kai and his face turned white. "Don't tell me you're the Mt. Leikaku bandits!"

"You got it," Genrou said, grinning. "So like I said, pay up and we'll take care of ya."

"Of course," the man said, rummaging through his pockets for the money. "It's a small price to pay." Something occurred to him and he looked at the two bandits again. "What about the other bandits? The ones from Mt. Kaou?"

"Don't worry about 'em," Genrou said with a shake of his head that made his earrings sparkle in the sun. "My guys'll make sure they don't touch ya." The man dropped several coins into Genrou's hand and he pointed the traveler down the road. "Thanks. Now ya just take the left fork right up there and it'll go right past some more of my guys. They ask, tell 'em Genrou sent ya and they'll get ya where you're goin.'"

"Thank you," the traveler said, bowing first to Genrou, then to Kai. "Thank you so much!" He hurried down the road and Genrou dropped the money into a leather pouch.

"See? Easy as that. Think ya can handle it?"

"Sure," Kai said. "Are the Mt. Kaou bandits really that bad?"

"Gettin' that way," Genrou said. "They got a new leader, Yushan, that's gettin' all kinds of guys together and rilin' 'em up. It's why we've got guys hangin' out near the path to Mt. Kaou. Last thing we want is people gettin' lost and taken for all their cash by those assholes." He gave Kai a dubious look. "Didn't ya say if we didn't take ya you'd go over there? How're ya plannin' to do that if ya don't know anything about 'em?"

"I was just bluffing," Kai admitted with a grin. "You took me, though, didn't you?"

"That ain't why I took ya," Genrou said. "I did it because you've got potential. Plus ya looked like ya didn't have anywhere else to go." As true as this was, Kai wasn't sure he had wanted to know that Genrou basically took him in out of pity. There was nothing he could say to this that wouldn't sound like whining, so he went in a completely different direction instead.

"Are you really from Kou?"

"What, ya think I'd lie?" Kai blinked at him and he put a hand over his eyes. "Yeah, that's where I'm from. Ever been there?" Kai shook his head and Genrou shrugged. "You ain't missin' much. C'mon, we're goin' back up the mountain."

"Already?" Kai looked up at the sky. The sun was still high in the sky, though it had slipped a little toward the west. "Don't I get to collect any tolls?"

"Before we can let ya collect tolls and stuff, there's other things ya gotta learn," Genrou said, motioning for Kai to come with him. They walked back up a small path to what looked like a miniature shrine. In front of it was an offering of rice and incense that had burned out.

"What's that?"

"I'm gettin' to it! Have some patience, will ya?" Not wanting the leader to think he was going to be the kind of guy who just backed down all the time, he nodded and motioned for Genrou to continue. This earned him a scowl from Genrou, and he folded his arms across his chest before he went on. "This' one of the shrines to the god of Mt. Leikaku," Genrou said, motioning to the little shrine. "Ya gotta remember to pay tribute after ya finish your work. Don't wanna piss off the mountain," he said as Kai bent down to look at the shrine a little more clearly. "Ya gotta keep 'em clean, too. Our old leader was real big on-hey!" Kai was reaching out to touch the roof of the shrine and Genrou smacked him on the back of the head with the same flat, metal thing he'd hit him with before.

"Ow! Hey! What was that for?" Kai rubbed his head and straightened to look at Genrou, trying to see what had hit him.

"Don't go touchin' the shrines without permission, ya idiot!"

"How am I supposed to clean them if I can't touch them?"

"Ya can clean 'em without manhandlin' 'em!" Sensing that the boy was going for the shrine again, Genrou grabbed Kai by the back of the shirt. "Can't ya-"

"Sorry!" Kai jerked out of Genrou's grasp and backed away from him. "I'll be more careful, Kashira!" Genrou looked at him in surprise and Kai tugged his shirt down so it was smooth. "Sorry, I just don't like being grabbed from behind."

"No need to be sorry for that," Genrou said. "It's a good trait in a bandit, matter of fact." When he pointed at the shrine again, all the irritation had disappeared from his voice. "Anyway, ya pray to it like any other shrine." He clasped his hands together and Kai did the same. They both closed their eyes. "God of Mt. Leikaku, we worked hard today too," he said, and even with his eyes closed Kai could hear the smile in his voice. It made his chest warm and he inched a little closer to Genrou, who clapped him on the shoulder. "Good job, kid."

"What? But I didn't do anything," Kai said, confused. Genrou started walking back toward the fortress and Kai hurried after him.

"You will tomorrow. For now all ya gotta do is listen and learn. And for Suzaku's sake, figure out how to swing that sword a little more accurately, will ya?" The fact that Genrou had been keeping an eye on him made Kai's face flush with embarrassment and he nodded. "Maybe you'd do better with a knife or somethin' like that." This last thing was said mostly to himself and Kai smiled.

They made it back up to the fortress and Kai realized that all the men were out of the yard. He looked around curiously and Genrou grinned. "Everybody's out on the mountain now. I'm gonna go find Kouji and join 'em. You keep practicin.'"

"I can help too," Kai said quickly. "I can find Nami."

"Don't ya have laundry to do or somethin'?" In the excitement of learning that he would be going out into the mountain to work, Kai had almost forgotten that the laundry and chores were still his jobs and he suppressed a sigh with great effort.

"Right," he said, thinking to himself that as if he finished the chores quickly he could at least practice a little with his bow before he had to make dinner. Genrou walked toward the gates of the fortress, leaving Kai to watch after him until he was gone before turning around and going in to start on the laundry.


	7. Heroic Measures

Genrou watched from the porch as Kai carried two buckets of water from the well, one in each hand and hurried up to the back of the fortress where the kitchen was. He couldn't help but be a little impressed by the boy, who hadn't even been able to carry one bucket when he first arrived. He could still remember shaking his head when he saw Kai slop an entire bucket down his front when he was trying to make it up the slight hill but now the boy was getting stronger.

_Still kinda scrawny-lookin,' _Genrou thought. He was beginning to think Kai really had stopped growing, which would mean he hadn't been lying about being twenty. He was fascinated by him in many ways; his slight build, his petulant nature, even the way he talked. His words weren't the rough ones of a mountain bandit, and he remembered Kai saying that he had gone to school. _Maybe a merchant's kid or somethin.' Wonder where he came from?_

"What's up?" Kouji stepped out onto the porch. He looked at where Genrou's eyes were trained and saw Kai heading down for more water. "Hope he thought to start boiling the water for laundry before he went back down this time."

"Probably not," Genrou said. "Kid's a scatterbrain. He oughta write stuff on his arm. At least he's gettin' better about some stuff." He sighed. "Some stuff he's still an idiot about, though. He's still tryin' to get on that horse."

"They're all too big for him," Kouji said in agreement. "Maybe we better have Nami show him how to drive the wagon before he falls off and breaks his neck."

"Maybe," Genrou said. "The last thing I wanna deal with is burying a kid out back. But I dunno. I saw him use the salt block to get up on the horse last time. He'd probably get excited about learnin' to drive the wagon, though." He chuckled. "One thing ya gotta say for the kid is that he's always excited about stuff."

"That'll stop soon enough. He's only been here a couple of months. _You_ were the same way. Lookin' around at everything like you were a country hick in the big city." He smirked at his best friend. "You were the biggest pain in the ass I've ever known."

"Comin' from you, that's a compliment," Genrou said with a grin. They turned away from the window and he leaned on the wall, looking at Kouji. "Gonna be another long one today, huh?"

"Yeah. And hot." Kouji laughed. "Hey, remember when you used to wear that black coat all the time? I thought you were gonna pass out when summer really got goin' around here. Where did you even get that thing?"

"I dunno. It was in our stuff, or it musta been. How do ya remember stuff like that from way back then anyway?" The picture in his room flashed briefly in Genrou's mind. He supposed that Kouji wasn't the only one that could remember things from that far back in the past. Not a day went by that he didn't think about the other Suzaku Shichiseishi, even if it was only for a moment when he glanced down at his arm. Rather than let these thoughts continue so early in the day, Genrou looked back outside. Kai was following Nami out toward the gates, his sword across his back.

"How could I forget? You were the only one around here that dressed that flashy. You still do, as a matter of fact. I mean, those earrings." Kouji reached over and flicked one of the aforementioned earrings and Genrou gave him a haughty look that was completely out of place on his face.

"You're just pissed they wouldn't look this good on someone like you."

"What do you mean 'someone like me,' you little bastard?" Kouji took a swing at Genrou, who ducked, laughing. "I don't care how big you've gotten, you're still that brat who couldn't keep his mouth shut! I'll take you anytime!"

"Sorry, Senpai, you're still too slow!"

000

By the time they'd finished tussling and straightened their clothes, the fortress was all but abandoned with the exception of the guards stationed by the gates. Still inseparable after so many years, Genrou and Kouji went out into the mountains to see how everyone was getting along. It had been Genrou's idea, mostly so he could see how Kai was measuring up after being in his new post for a couple of weeks.

As he'd expected, Nami wasn't thrilled with his new partner. Putting aside the fact that he already had to share his room with Kai, he was one of the best swordsmen among the bandits and often manned the posts around the fortress. Being put down on the road was something of a demotion for him and he'd had no problems letting Genrou know how he felt.

"All right! Let's hurry up and check on everyone so we can get down to some real work!" Even though he was the leader, Genrou still liked to work down on the road or on the paths of the mountain. Kouji hadn't been kidding when he said that Genrou was like a kid who never grew up and this was one of the things that made him so popular with the other bandits.

"Let me guess, you want to go check on Kai and Nami."

"Sure, why not," Genrou said with a shrug. "Might as well see how the kid is holdin' up." He frowned slightly. "What made ya say that?"

"Nothin.'"

Genrou tried to get a straight answer out of Kouji most of the way down the mountain, but if there was one thing the older of the two men was good at it was keeping his mouth shut. As always, it drove Genrou up the wall and he was about to resort to threats when his next step sent an unpleasant feeling through his body. He stopped short on the path and Kouji almost ran into him.

"What's wrong?"

"Somethin' ain't right," Genrou said, almost under his breath.

An unsettling feeling hung around the base of the mountain and Genrou looked carefully around before he stepped onto the path. Kouji had felt it too, he could tell by the look on his face. Kouji took out his sword while Genrou put his hand around the handle of his tessen. He pulled it cautiously from his belt and held it in front of himself. There were no obvious enemies about but it didn't mean there wasn't anyone hiding. With a flick of his wrist he unfolded the iron pleats of the fan, ready to shout the incantation as soon as an enemy appeared. The two of them split up and went in opposite directions to check more effectively but before too long they met up again.

"Ya see anyone that way?"

"Nope. They could still be hiding around here, though. Gotta keep our guard up," Kouji said, and Genrou nodded his agreement. He put the tessen back on his belt for the moment and they returned to the path. "You think anyone else noticed anything?"

"We can always ask around. C'mon, those guys should be up here." The possibility of someone who shouldn't be in the mountain lurking around made him all the more anxious to check on Kai and Nami. The boy still wasn't good enough with his sword to hold his own in a fight and Genrou was starting to regret not giving him that knife. He quickened his step and Kouji followed as always.

At first they didn't see anyone on the road in the usual place and Genrou fought the urge to pull out his tessen again. Kouji shook his head. "Maybe they're just up a little bit. It wouldn't be weird for them to move around." They continued down the road until they heard familiar voices.

"So come on, tell me. Where are you from?" This voice was Kai's, and it sounded as energetic as ever in spite of the full load of chores he had done before coming down to the road. Genrou smiled with relief at the sound before he realized he was doing it, and the weary reply that came only made it better.

"Do you ever shut up?"

"I will if you tell me where you're from." When he came around the corner, Genrou saw Kai half-sitting on a rock by the side of the road and Nami looking as if he wanted to strangle the boy. "Come on, I told you-" At the movement he caught from the corner of his eye, Kai saw Genrou and Kouji come up and scrambled off the rock to stand up straight. "Kashira! Kouji Aniki!"

"How's it goin' over here?" Nami gave Genrou a telling look and he grinned. "So everything's goin' good, I guess. You gettin' many travelers?"

"A couple," Nami said. "We're keepin' an eye out for a couple of guys that were bragging in the restaurant about how they bought up debt on some houses and are squeezing the owners for the money. They should be here soon."

"Good job. How'd ya find out so quick?"

"I sent this one to check in with the guys down there," Nami said, jerking his thumb at Kai. "Came back with the info before I even had a chance to really enjoy the silence."

"Told you I was fast," Kai said, grinning brightly. "If you want someone to deliver messages for you, I'm your man!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Genrou said. He looked at Nami. "Ya got everything handled over here?" The larger man nodded. "Good. I'm countin' on ya to keep this one in line." The look on Nami's face was one of a man who was at his wits' end and Genrou shrugged. "At least keep from killin' him."

"I should get a raise for this," Nami muttered. "I didn't sign up to be a babysitter."

"You're takin' one for the team," Kouji said, patting him on the back as best he could. He turned to Genrou with a smile. "Just think, if it wasn't for Nami-"

"Kashira!" Suddenly Kai leapt forward and with a burst of strength that surprised everyone around him, shoved Genrou off the grassy patch and into the road. At first, Genrou didn't know exactly what had happened and he turned to snap at Kai, stopping short when he saw the boy clutching his arm. The right sleeve of his tunic was red with blood that was spreading rapidly from beneath his fingers. He looked around to see what could have caused the injury and saw an arrow's shaft sticking out of the tree just behind where he had been standing.

"Who the hell shot that?"

"Probably guys from Mt. Kaou," Kouji said, taking out his sword again. "We'll go check it out. Maybe we can chase them down to where Goh and Yuzu are and take them out that way." He looked at Kai, who was still holding his arm. "Unless you want me to stay with the kid."

"Nah, I've got him." Kouji and and Nami nodded together, then hurried down the road with their swords at the ready. Genrou turned back to Kai, who was still holding his arm. It hung limply by his side while his left hand clutched it tightly. Drops of blood had fallen into the grass and they were quickly turning dark and sticky as they stained the leaves. Little rivulets of blood ran down Kai's arm and dripped from his index finger. The hand he had pressed against the wound was shaking slightly and his lips were pressed tightly together. "You okay?" Kai nodded stiffly. The place where the arrow had sliced into his arm was burning and Genrou hoped there hadn't been poison on the tip but he wasn't about to give voice to this concern for fear it might make it real. "Lemme see it."

Reluctantly, Kai moved his hand and Genrou pulled aside the fabric to see a clean, deep slice in the boy's upper arm. It didn't seem to want to stop bleeding and without a moment's hesitation, Genrou unwound a long strip of cloth from around his forearm and used it to bind the wound tightly. The sleeve of his shirt was pushed up and Kai saw that there was something on his arm, something red, and for a moment he was worried that he hadn't been quick enough, that Genrou had been injured too.

"Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Genrou frowned at him. "What're ya talkin' about? You're the one who's hurt." His sleeve fell back down his arm and covered the mark. Genrou tied the ends of the bandage together. "Sorry if it's tight, I'm tryin' to keep it from bleedin' any more than it is. Hurt much?"

"Not really," lied Kai. In addition to feeling like he'd been seared with a hot iron, the wound stung like he'd run his arm through a bush of nettles and he suddenly wondered how he would be able to tell if there had been poison on the tip. Genrou gave the boy a close look.

"Ya don't feel dizzy or nothin', do ya?"

"No," Kai said. "At least I don't think I do."

"Good. Then you probably ain't poisoned." He sighed and looked in the direction Kouji and the others had gone, then nodded toward the fortress. "C'mon. Ya need to get back. I'll come with ya just in case there're others out here."

"Are you sure? Shouldn't you go with the others? I can get back up on my own." Kai definitely wouldn't mind being escorted back up the mountain by the leader but he also didn't want to get on Genrou's nerves.

"You're gonna be useless in a fight with your good arm hurt," Genrou said, motioning for Kai to follow him. "Keep an eye out, though. They're pretty sharp if ya can see an arrow comin' like that."

"I didn't exactly," Kai said, hurrying to match his pace. "I felt it more than anything, like you said. Then I saw something glint and I didn't want you to get hurt." He realized how this sounded after he'd said it and blushed a little. "I mean, it came right at you. Someone was shooting at you."

"It ain't the first time someone's tried to kill me," Genrou said. "Probably won't be the last either." He turned to look at Kai, who face betrayed the alarm he felt. "Don't worry," Genrou said. "I'm gonna be stickin' around a long time yet."

"I hope so," said Kai, his mouth moving again before he could stop it. "I-I mean you're a really great leader. We'd be in trouble if we lost you."

"Thanks," Genrou said with a smile, leading Kai back up the mountain and into the fortress. As if he was afraid that someone might be waiting in the shadows to attack Kai, he walked the boy straight to his room and stood outside the door. "Get yourself cleaned up," Genrou said. "When everybody gets back I'm gonna have someone else take care of dinner tonight. I don't want ya tryin' to carry those plates with that arm."

"Thank you," Kai replied, reaching over to touch his throbbing arm instinctively. "I think I could do it though. I just wouldn't be as fast as usual."

"Nah, don't worry about it. We got stuff done before ya got here, we can do it again." Genrou turned to go, then stopped and looked around. "Hey, Kai?"

"Yeah?" Surprised by the fact that Genrou had used his name instead of just calling him 'kid,' Kai looked up at him and he gave him a smile that sent warmth through Kai's entire being. It was different from his usual grin.

"Thanks for shovin' me outta the way. I owe ya one." He thought about this for a second, then shook his head. "Nah, I owe ya way more than that. Anything ya need, it's yours. Just don't ask me to let ya outta chores for more than a couple of days. Don't want anybody thinkin' you're gettin' special treatment around here."

"No. Of course not. But thank you," Kai said. "I'll be ready to do chores first thing in the morning, though."

"Nope. You're gonna rest it and there's no point in arguin' with me. I'll make Nami lock you in your room if I hafta." Genrou nodded toward the aforementioned room. "Go take care of your arm. I'm gonna go back down and see if they caught anybody."

"Right," Kai said, still cradling his injured arm with his left hand. "Thank you, Kashira."

"Ain't that supposed to be my line?" Kai opened his mouth to reply and Genrou made a shooing motion in his direction. "Go on. Some of the guys'll be back soon so ya won't be here alone too long." Before Kai could tell him that he didn't need any of the other guys around to feel safe, the leader had turned and was walking down the hall to the entrance doors.

When he was gone, Kai pushed open the door to his room and went inside. He lit the lantern with one hand and some difficulty, then sighed. This was definitely not how he had planned his day to go, especially when he had thought things were going so well.

"Ugh," Kai said with a look down at his arm. The makeshift bandage Genrou had tied around his arm was stiff with dried blood and he carefully untied and unwound it so he could take off his shirt to tend to the wound properly. _My shirt's definitely ruined_, he thought with a sigh. He was busy thinking about how much he had liked that shirt and wondering if he should start rummaging through the storage room for another or just wear his old shirt and didn't hear the door opening behind him just as he took off the bloody shirt.

In spite of the constant air of exasperation he projected at the much smaller bandit in training, Nami couldn't help worrying about him a little when he was injured. They hadn't found whoever had shot the arrow and with Genrou returning to help search, he didn't think he'd be missed if he went back to the fortress. He'd figured that Kai went straight to their room to clean up and he wanted to make sure the kid didn't need any help, since it looked like he'd been hit in his good arm. Their door wasn't locked and he pushed it open, half-expecting his roommate to be bleeding all over his bed and practically asking to be lectured.

What he hadn't expected to see as Kai turned to him was breasts.


	8. Unexpected Alliance

They were bound to her chest with a long strip of cloth as best they could be but now that there was no shirt between them there was definitely a curve to Kai's chest that the other men didn't have. She pulled her ruined shirt up to cover her chest in a gesture that was more feminine than anything he'd ever seen from her.

Nami stared at her, his one good eye wide with surprise. It wasn't quite sinking in and Kai was bright red, so he focused on the still-fresh wound on her arm. It had opened again and was oozing blood, something that seemed more urgent than questions about what a pair of breasts was doing in a mountain bandit fortress. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly as she tried to think of something to say but she couldn't seem to get anything out.

"We should wrap that up," Nami said, ignoring her chest as best he could. "You're just gonna keep opening it if you don't." He poured some water into a basin and brought it over to the bed, then nodded for Kai to sit down. She was still holding the shirt in front of her chest and he shook his head. "You might as well put that down. It's not like I ain't seen a pair before."

"That's-" She inhaled sharply as he pressed a wet cloth to her arm. Nami had been shot by an arrow before so he knew the pain she was feeling but he pressed it harder to make it bleed. The cloth turned as red as her shirt and she tried to pull away. "Hey, that hurts!"

"It's supposed to," Nami said. "But it helps clean it out. Just in case there's poison on it."

"Between you and Kashira, you'd think every arrow that comes out of this mountain is gonna kill me." Some of her earlier bravado had returned but it somehow seemed halfhearted. "Give me long enough I'm gonna believe it myself."

"It just grazed you, you know. If it had really hit you it probably would've killed you. You're small enough it would've gone right through you." Finally he took the cloth away and rinsed it in the basin, then wiped away the blood from around the wound. From somewhere on his person he produced a roll of cloth and proceeded to wrap Kai's arm as carefully as Genrou had done. "Starting tomorrow you're gonna wear some sort of armor before you go on the road."

"Where am I supposed to get armor?"

"We've got plenty," Nami said, finishing bandaging her arm with a neat knot. "I'm sure we can find something you can wear."

"Kashira doesn't wear armor," Kai said stubbornly as he stood up. She picked up her shirt from her lap and pulled it on over one shoulder. It wasn't going as smoothly as she would have liked, but lifting her injured arm was obviously painful.

"That's because he doesn't need it. He's strong and fast, even faster than you. Besides, he's got guys like you to push him out of the way, doesn't he?" Nami realized a little late that he'd referred to Kai as a guy but it didn't seem to matter much. She might be a girl, but she definitely wasn't delicate and retiring.

"I was only doing what I had to so I could protect him." Kai took her old shirt from the table and gingerly put it on, setting aside the torn one, then stood up. "Please don't tell anyone," Kai said, cinching her sash around her waist. With her shirt back on, she looked mostly like a boy again but the damage was done. She'd always look like a dressed-up girl to Nami now. "Especially not Kashira."

"I'm not gonna do that," Nami said with a heavy sigh. "I don't need the thought of a girl gettin' driven off a mountain by a group of bandits on my conscience."

"So you wouldn't have cared if they were driving off a boy?" A lopsided grin found its way to her face and Nami rubbed his forehead in a way that reminded Kai of her father. "Let's just pretend you never saw anything."

"Could you?"

"Probably not." Her smile stayed but the air between them was silent for a long moment. Neither of them quite knew what to say and Kai cleared her throat. "This isn't going to make things weird, is it?"

"Weirder than this?" Nami picked up the basin and started to the door with it. "I don't know how things could get weirder than this. C'mon. I'm gonna dump this out and fill it with fresh. You come with me and we'll check out some armor."

"Sure. I've gotta run down and get some water anyway." At this, Nami stopped in his tracks and Kai bumped into his back.

"And how're you gonna go get water with that arm?" He looked back at Kai, whose face was once again petulant. _Maybe it'll be easier than I thought to keep pretending she's a boy._ "You should rest it. End of story."

"I can carry a bucket in my left hand just as easily as my right." She lifted her arm and flexed the growing muscles. "Don't worry about me."

"Who's worried? I just don't want to be stuck hauling a bucket of water up the hill when you say you can't do it." Kai looked like she was about to argue with him and he narrowed his eye. "Just rest your arm for now. You're only gonna make it worse if you try to work with it like that."

"You sound just like Kashira."

"Good. He knows what he's talking about." They started walking again, past the main room that held the weapons and into a second room where there were more weapons and some armor piled on tables. "Now we just gotta find some that'll fit you." Nami looked around, trying to determine where he should begin. "You're still kind of a runt, so metal's out of the question," he said, more to himself than to Kai. "Leather'll do for now."

"I'm not used to wearing anything like that," Kai said. "It'll just slow me down."

"You need to slow down for a while."

"I don't run on my arm, Aniki."

"So you'll get stronger." Nami turned to her with a set of leather plates in his hands. "Isn't that what you want?" She didn't answer and he brought the plates to her. "Raise your arms." Kai sighed and raised her left arm, giving him a weary look. "Oh, right. Sorry. This stuff's too heavy for you anyway." He tossed some more armor out of the way and nodded. After a pause, he held up some armor that looked like it might fit Kai. "We'll take this with us. You can try it on later."

Whether it was because she was agreeing with him or the exhaustion of being injured was catching up with her, Kai nodded and followed Nami back down the hall to their room. He closed the door behind him and tossed the armor onto the table, then pointed at the bed.

"Lay down and get some rest until it's time for dinner." Kai looked at him, surprised by the gesture and Nami scowled at her. "What's with the look?"

"You're letting me sleep on your bed?" Nami expected her to say she didn't want him to feel sorry for her but instead of arguing with him she sat down on the bed and kicked off her boots. Her eyes looked tired and glassy and he glanced at her arm. It was a relief to see that she hadn't bled through the bandage.

_ He really must be tired_, Nami thought. _He's..._she's_...not even putting up a fight._ He opened his mouth to tell her not to get too used to it, then noticed she had already dozed off. In a moment of brotherly concern for her that was almost out of character for him, he picked up the blanket Kai always slept under and tossed it over her. "Last thing I need is for you to catch a cold too." There was, of course, no answer and he considered leaving the lamp burning but decided against it. He had to get around the room too. Besides, it didn't seem like Kai was going to be bothered by the light. Nami stepped out of the room and went for the weapons room so he could clean his sword. She'd be fine on her own for a while, or so he hoped.

000

When Kai didn't show up for dinner, Genrou couldn't help worrying about the boy. Nami had already come down and the liquor was being poured while they waited for dinner to be prepared and brought out to them. Things weren't running smoothly without Kai and everyone seemed to know it. Unable to wonder any longer, he stood up and nodded over to the sleeping quarters.

"I'll be right back," he said to Kouji. "I wanna makes sure that nothin's happened to him."

"Nami said he was sleeping."

"Yeah, but when've ya ever known the kid to miss out on food? Like I said, I'll be right back." Genrou stood up from the table and went out into the hall with a wave of his hand. Kouji shrugged and picked up his cup of sake.

Once he was away from the dining hall Genrou started walking faster. He really had never known Kai to miss a meal and as much as the boy had been bleeding when he'd been shot he had a nasty feeling that it was probably still looking bad. Not only that, but if it really had been the Mt. Kaou crew that shot him he wasn't entirely convinced that there wasn't some slow-acting poison on the arrow.

Before he realized it, Genrou was nearly running toward Kai and Nami's room. The thought, even the remotest possibility, that the boy was lying dead in his bed while everyone else was eating dinner made him feel cold and a little sick. He rounded the corner and a wave of relief washed over him when he saw Kai come out of his room, rubbing his eyes with his left hand.

"There ya are," Genrou said, his head spinning as the tension drained away. "I mi-" Horrified at how close he'd come to saying that he'd missed him, Genrou grinned to cover his confusion over why he would even think about saying something like that in the first place. "I thought you weren't gonna be comin' out."

"Sorry. I just kind of passed out." Kai gave him a grin that he was certain was covering something of its own but he didn't want to ask what it was. "Is there any food left for me?"

"Sure, we ain't even started dinner for real. Even if we had, we woulda saved some for ya. Gotta eat to keep your strength up." Genrou slapped him on the shoulder in what he hoped was an encouraging way. Instead Kai's eyes watered and he cringed forward. "Huh? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Kai managed, trying to keep his hand from moving up to cradle his injured arm. It hit Genrou then and he held his hands in front of his chest.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to, y'know, hit ya there." Kai's eyes closed for a moment and Genrou looked away, angry with himself for hurting the boy without thinking. "Dammit. Ya take an arrow for me and the best I can do for ya is to smack ya around."

"It's all right," Kai said as the pain began to subside into a dull throb and he slowly straightened. "It isn't like you meant to do it." He forced a smile onto his face. "If you did it on purpose I might be tempted to punch you and call it my favor." This made Genrou laugh out loud, a boisterous sound in the empty hallway that he didn't care if the others heard.

"You're pretty funny, y'know."

"Thanks," Kai said. "I'm also starving." A genuine smile took the place of his pained one. "Don't worry about me arguing about not serving tonight. It feels like someone's tearing my arm off."

"Still ain't feelin' dizzy or anything are ya? I mean, it just hurts, right?"

"Yeah," Kai said sarcastically. "It _just_ hurts like hell."

"That's uh, that's not what I meant." Genrou scratched the back of his head and Kai smiled again. "I just meant-"

"I know what you meant," Kai said. "And thanks for worrying about me."

"Worryin' about you?" Genrou stopped in his tracks and arched one eyebrow at Kai. "Who said anything about worryin' about you?" Kai shrugged with one arm and kept walking.

"You came after me."

"I-" Realizing he was right, Genrou frowned at the boy's back for a moment before hurrying to catch up with him. He hadn't meant to worry about Kai, it had just happened. _But I'd be worried about any one of my guys if they got hit with an arrow_, he reassured himself. _That's nothin' new._ "Anyway," he said, continuing as if Kai had never brought up the subject, "There's plenty of food and booze for ya. Nothin' like booze to make the pain go away."

"You can say that again," Kai said. "Bring it on."

"That's the spirit!" Genrou grinned. He almost slapped Kai on the back again but stopped himself just in time. "We're celebratin' tonight!"

"What're we celebrating?" Not waiting for a reply, Kai went into the dining hall and was immediately greeted by cheers from the rest of the bandits. He laughed and waved them off with his good arm and Goh poured some liquor for him as soon as he sat down. Genrou watched them with an almost paternal look that dissipated when his eyes settled on Kai's face.

_You_, he thought. _We're celebratin' you_.

000

After the increasingly raucous dinner, Kai and Nami walked back to their room. Kai was more than a little drunk but she seemed to be walking steadily enough that he didn't have to support her. The alcohol seemed to have helped take her mind off her arm because she was swinging it instead of holding it stiffly to her side. He was glad to see it.

"Do I still get to sleep on your bed tonight?" It was a question Nami had been waiting for her to ask and he sighed heavily.

"Just tonight. And don't get any blood on my sheets." He wasn't joking. If the girl wanted to dress up and play a boy, he was going to treat her like one. After all, if he didn't she would have to leave the mountain and he didn't want to be responsible for taking away the place where she herself had said she felt safe.

When they got back into their room and had the door secured, Kai changed into her sleeping attire for the first time Nami could remember. Usually she changed after he was asleep or before he came back into the room and now he knew why. This time she simply turned her back to him and took off her shirt. Just as he had before, Nami ignored her and took off his armor. When she turned around, the slight curve to her chest was noticeably larger and he frowned.

"I took off the binding," she said, noticing his look. "No need to sleep in them anymore, right?"

"What if someone comes in?" To this, Kai shrugged and went over to the bed. A slight wobble had worked its way into her walk and he decided to leave her alone. He exchanged her blanket for his and laid on the floor in her usual spot. Nami took up more room than Kai by far but he didn't complain about it. A promise was a promise. Once the light was out, Nami asked the one thing she hadn't explained earlier."So are you gonna tell me why?"

"Why?" Kai sighed heavily. He didn't miss a beat, though, and Nami was glad she already knew what he was talking about. "Because I was tired."

"Tired? Of what?"

"My parents died when I was just a kid and I stole things to survive. It wasn't easy, and some days there wasn't much to take. I didn't really have a home, just a room I'd rent when I could manage it. And then I saw Kashira in town sometimes and he looked so cool. I overheard someone saying he was a mountain bandit leader so I asked around about the Mt. Leikaku bandits. You sounded like a good bunch and I thought maybe I could be one of you if I was a boy." Kai leaned on the door frame and a sharp report of pain from her right arm made her stand up straight again. "So I cut off my hair, stole a set of boys' clothes and came up here."

"So that's your story," Nami said, giving Kai's general direction a searching look. She didn't seem to be lying, but then again he'd also believed her before when she said she was a boy. The sheets rustled as she moved into a more comfortable position.

"More or less," she said. "I mean, everybody's got a long story, right? Mine's probably not much different than yours or Kouji Aniki's when you get right down to it. We do what we have to and then we end up here." There was a smile in her voice. "It's just a little lie, it's not hurting anyone, right?"

"Guess not." Something clicked in his head and Nami looked at her. "So you've been going outside at night to bathe?"

"Yeah," Kai said, her smile turning into a grin. "Sneaking past the guards is the tricky part but I've always been good at climbing. And there's a nice little pool at the bottom of the waterfall. It's freezing but at least I don't have to worry about guys walking in on me."

"How are you gonna get out there with your arm like that? There's no way you're gonna be able to climb a tree or anything else." Nami could tell from the silence that overtook the room that Kai hadn't thought of this and he sighed. "Don't even think of asking me to help you."

"I wasn't," she said. "But what if you just kind of hung around outside the bath? You know, to warn me if anyone is coming."

"In the middle of the night?" Nami laughed and Kai sighed, a long-suffering sound that Nami remembered well from his childhood.

"Or maybe I'll just dab myself with a wet cloth."

"You can stop trying to give me a guilt trip," Nami said, pulling the blanket over himself. "It's not working."

"But Aniki..."

"Nope."

000

In his room, Genrou sank onto his bed and sighed. He hadn't realized just how tense he was until he was away from the others and he rubbed his shoulder. Immediately his thoughts went to Mei, who was excellent at rubbing the stress out of his neck and shoulders, and he wondered if it would be an inopportune time to leave the fortress. He didn't feel like taking anyone with him, but after an attempt on his life he had a feeling Kouji at least would want to go with him.

Genrou closed his eyes and fell backward on the bed, thinking about what had happened. The adrenaline that had pumped through his body when he realized that someone had tried to kill him was gone, as was the knot of worry he'd felt when he saw Kai bleeding. His mind traveled lazily to the boy and the way he'd pushed him. It felt as if he'd used every last bit of his strength, strength that Genrou wouldn't have thought he possessed.

_I really do owe the kid my life,_ he thought. It also came to him that anyone else might have used it as an opportunity to move up in the group but Kai actually seemed disappointed because he wanted to do his chores. No, not that he wanted to do the chores but because he felt like he would be letting down the others by not doing them. It was the same as when he had been locked out in the rain. _He just wants to be important to us. Just like I did when I was a kid. Gotta figure out a way to let him know he's one of us, like Kashira did for me._ Something else found its way to the front of his mind and he looked up at the ceiling. _I really was worryin' about him, wasn't I?_

He already knew the answer to this and it both concerned him and seemed so obvious. There were plenty of reasons to be worried about someone who had been shot, and he really would have worried about any one of the other bandits. Still, there was something about it that seemed different but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. An image of the boy holding his arm and trying to stop the bleeding followed the thoughts of his concern and he wondered if the kid knew how lucky he was.

The urge to go down the mountain and visit the teahouse had disappeared and Genrou sat up to take off his earrings. He tried to put Kai out of his mind and focus on the best way to deal with the Mt. Kaou guys. Even though they hadn't found the shooter, he knew it was them. Nothing was stopping them from going up to the fortress on Mt. Kaou and launching a full-on assault but he wanted proof before he did that.

_Kashira never would have made a move without proof_, he told himself as he put away his jewelry and started to unbutton his outer shirt. Even though he had been dead for a long time, Genrou still based a number of things on what he thought Hakurou would have done. Even now, the man who had welcomed him to Mt. Leikaku and given him his name was his ideal and he lived every day in the hopes that he was living up to Hakurou's expectations.

_I'm protectin' the mountain, just like ya told me,_ he said to Hakurou's memory. _And that means protectin' my guys too. I've gotta figure somethin' out. What, though? _Genrou finished undressing and dropped into bed again. All of a sudden he was extremely tired. _It ain't like I've gotta come up with a plan tonight,_ he thought. _Tomorrow's good enough_.

Even as he thought it, Genrou found himself hoping that it would really be the case. But sleep came quickly for him and his thoughts, both uncomfortable and comfortable disappeared. There was plenty of time to worry about it in the morning.


	9. A Simple Gesture

Three days later, Genrou couldn't help but be impressed by Kai's resilience. Though he was moving a little more slowly than usual – something the other bandits didn't seem to mind – he was back to doing laundry, serving dinner and drawing water from the well with his good arm. His fighting practice was less successful; with his good arm injured he wasn't able to swing his sword or fire an arrow. If it got him down he didn't show it. Instead, he worked as hard as he could and didn't complain.

Even though he wasn't able to fight, Kai insisted that he could work down on the road with Nami. Genrou had expected the much larger bandit to say he wasn't about to babysit Kai but he'd said he'd keep an eye on him. Now that it was time to get to work, however, the leader was wondering whether or not it was a good idea. He walked toward Nami and Kai's room, fully intending to tell the boy that he should stay at the fortress another few days.

"There you are," Nami's voice said on the other side of the door. "That should do it."

"It's going to take some getting used to," Kai said, his voice muffled. "But it's a lot more comfortable than I expected."

Genrou was curious to see what they were talking about and his question was answered a moment later when the door opened. When Kai stepped out of the room, Genrou was stunned into silence. With the leather armor he was wearing, along with his hair pulled back in a ponytail that had gotten longer since he'd first arrived, he looked a little like Hakurou, their old leader. A much smaller version, of course, but Hakurou just the same. Kai looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"What's wrong? I look stupid in this, don't I?" He held his arms out as if displaying the latest fashion and sighed. "I told Nami it was too much."

"No, that ain't it. It's just that-" Genrou stopped short and shook his head. "I'm glad you're wearin' some kinda protection. I dunno why we didn't have it on ya before." Kouji came down the hall behind him and smiled when he saw Kai.

"Hey, good idea." He looked at Genrou. "Kinda looks like Kashira in that, huh?"

"That's just what I was thinkin' actually," Genrou said, glad that Kouji agreed with him. It gave him a reason to continue looking at Kai, and he was suddenly taken aback by this thought. _Why do I wanna keep lookin' at him?_ "Where'd ya get the armor?" He already knew the answer to this question but he wanted something to say.

"Nami Aniki found it for me," Kai said with a grin up at his roommate. "I was half-hoping he wouldn't find any that fit me."

"You gotta wear something," Kouji said. "And trust me, lookin' like Kashira is a good thing. He was a great man." Kai looked curiously at him and Kouji put an arm around the boy. "C'mon, I'll tell you about him on our way down."

"Really? Thanks!"

As they walked out of the fortress, Kouji regaling Kai with tales of the bravery and honor of their former leader and Kai listening to him intently, Genrou lingered behind them. There was something about Kouji's arm around Kai's shoulders that he didn't like. It was just a friendly gesture and he knew he should be happy that his best friend had warmed up to the kid but it still bothered him.

Once they were down on the road, all thoughts of Kouji, Kai, and Hakurou were brushed out of his mind by the work ahead of them. It seemed like everyone in Konan was passing through the mountains and there was the usual crop of guys who were trying to steal or sneak through without paying to deal with. Genrou and Kouji stayed with Kai and Nami to make sure nothing happened to the defenseless boy and to give them some backup.

They sent Kai running to the restaurant a few times to gather information, and his speed seemed to have been unharmed by the injury to his arm. Before they had time to do more than comment on this, he was back and telling them that some loan sharks were on their way through. They'd flashed a lot of money around at the restaurant and were talking about how to con their way through the mountain pass when they came across the bandits.

"We've gotta knock 'em down a few pegs," Genrou said when Kai reported this. "This' a perfect example of the kind of guys we take for everything they're worth."

"I wish I could help," Kai said with a sigh and Genrou patted him lightly on his good arm. He'd managed to keep from slapping him on the right side of his body after the first time.

"Ya already did." The look on Kai's face clearly said that this wasn't the type of help he wanted to provide and Genrou grinned at him, hoping to put him at ease. "C'mon, we hide in the bushes 'til they get through here. Gives 'em a false sense of security. Nami'll go out first and block their path, Kouji'll grab their horse, and I'll step out and give 'em a chance to come clean."

"What do I get to do?" Kai looked out at the road as they went into the bushes in a group. The flattened grass suggested that this wasn't the first time someone was lying in wait there.

"Watch and learn," Kouji said with a smile. "Soon as that arm gets better, you'll be dealing with some of the big fish out here too. We're not always gonna be around to help you out, so you'd better take notes."

"Yes, Kouji Aniki!"

Before long, the loan sharks showed up and the plan went smoothly. Nami blocked most of the road when he stepped out in front of the horse pulling the wagon and before they could even begin to go around him, Kouji had grabbed the reins of the horse and held it firmly in place. Their prey immobilized, Genrou started out of the bushes, motioning for Kai to follow.

"Hey there, nice to see ya," Genrou said, waving at the man who had just had the reins taken from him. "Hope ya enjoyed your meal down at our place." The second man who was sitting beside the first glanced at him and a look of realization came over their faces. "Good, you've figured it out. We can forget the small talk and get down to takin' a cut of your stuff."

"We're not carrying much of anything," the first man said, smiling apologetically. "We spent almost everything in the restaurant. You see, we're on our way to Souun to-"

"-take some folks for all they're worth after ya loan 'em money?" Genrou finished for him. He folded his arms over his chest. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kai put his hands on his hips, most likely in an attempt to look serious. "We've heard all about ya, there's no use pretendin.'"

For a moment it looked like the loan sharks were going to pay the toll quietly. The first man climbed down from the wagon and opened his money pouch. "How much is the toll?"

"For guys like you, a third of what you're carrying," Kouji said. "We're havin' a special today."

"A third?" The man looked at him in surprise. "But we aren't carrying that much!"

"Then it won't be much of a loss."

"Forget it!" The man pulled out a knife and lunged at Kouji. After that, everything happened quickly. The second man jumped down from the wagon just as Kouji stepped out of the way of the first's small blade. Nami grabbed the second man by the front of his tunic and held him off the ground like a rag doll. Genrou stepped forward, ready to fight, then stopped when he saw Kai was trying to follow behind him.

"Nope," he said, pointing at the bushes. "Stay back here." Kai's mouth opened to argue but he narrowed his eyes at the boy and he closed it again. "It's an order," Genrou added, just in case Kai was still thinking of arguing.

By the time he got over to it, the scuffle was over and Kouji and Nami were the clear victors. The loan sharks were tied together with a length of rope that Nami had on his belt and tossed unceremoniously into the bushes while the bandits went through their things. As soon as Genrou pulled the blanket off the pile of goods in the back of the wagon he grinned.

As he'd expected, there was quite a haul. Several locked chests were in the wagon, along with clothes and a pair of small chairs on their side. He turned back to tell Kai to come see and was surprised by the fact that the boy was already at his side.

"Thought I told ya to stay back."

"The fight was over, so I came to see what they had." Kai shrugged and Genrou sighed. There was no point in scolding him, he'd grown a thicker skin than he had when he first arrived. "What are we going to do with all this stuff?"

"We'll get some other guys to help us carry the chests and stuff up to the fortress." Genrou lifted a shirt out of the wagon and held it up. "This looks like it might fit ya. Want it?"

"All right," Kai said eagerly. Genrou handed him the shirt and he tossed it over his shoulder like a towel. "Can I help?"

"Sure, if ya don't strain yourself." Genrou expected him to take one of the bundles of clothes and he turned to go over to the loan sharks. They were struggling against their bonds as he'd expected. "Because we're such nice guys, we're gonna let ya keep your horse and chairs. Everything else is ours now, ya got it?"

"We're sorry," the second man said. "Can't you let us keep some of our things?"

"Ya ain't sorry," Genrou said. "You're just sorry you're losin' your stuff. Just sit there for a while and be quiet." With that, he turned and stepped out of the bushes, only to see that Kai was once again doing exactly the opposite of what he'd told him.

Kai lifted one of the chests out of the wagon and Genrou saw pain flash over his face for an instant. The chest dipped slightly to the right and he knew it was where the arrow had hit. The boy regained his composure a second later and went back to his usual struggle of lifting heavy things but it was too late. Genrou went to Kai, scowling.

"You're just beggin' to make that arm worse, ain't ya?" He took the chest out of Kai's hands without giving him a chance to say yes or no. "You ain't gonna be any good to us if you're injured all the time, y'know."

"I-I can carry it," Kai said, hurrying along behind him. "My arm's fine."

"Oh it is, huh?" Genrou set down the chest and reached for Kai's arm as if he was going to grab it. Instinctively the boy flinched away from him and he raised an eyebrow. "Then how come ya don't want me grabbin' it?"

"That's not it. It's just that it's, uh, it's kinda-"

"Yeah, yeah," Genrou said, cutting him off before he could flounder further. "C'mon," Genrou said, motioning for Kai to follow him. "We're gonna take ya down the mountain and get a doc to look at it. It looked pretty deep and I don't want ya to get an infection."

"No!" Kai's eyes widened and he shook his head. "I'm fine, I don't need a doctor." There was a look on his face that was approaching panic.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of doctors," he said. Kai nodded vigorously.

"That's right, I don't like them," he said, backing away from Genrou with his hands up defensively. "I had a bad experience when I was a kid and now I can't handle them. I'll take it easy with my arm, all right?"

"What kinda man is scared of gettin' patched up?"

"People are afraid of all sorts of things," Kouji said, stepping in with a shrug. "Some people are afraid of snakes. Hell, _some_ people are even afraid of big breasts." He gave Genrou a knowing look that didn't escape Kai's notice.

"Breasts?"

"It's nothin,'" Genrou said, turning away from him. "Just a stupid kid's joke. Besides, I ain't afraid of anything anymore."

"Except maybe breasts," Kouji put in, grinning. It made Kai laugh a little and Genrou punched Kouji in the arm, which only made him start laughing as well. "Oh man, it's too bad you didn't know him when he was a kid, he was an even scrawnier thing than you."

"Who was scrawny?" Scowling, Genrou folded his arms over his chest. "Ya weren't that much bigger'n me." He turned his attention back to Kai, who had gone from panicked to laughing and decided that dragging the boy to the doctor wouldn't help anything. Still, he wanted to do something about Kai's arm. "Okay, let's see here. Nami, ya wanna start carryin' those chests back up to the fortress? Kouji, since you're havin' such a great time with the kid, ya can hang out here with him and help him with any other travelers."

"Where are _you_ going?"

"I've got some business to take care of," Genrou said with a shrug. "Don't worry, I'll be back before too long. Just hang out and try not to tell him too many embarrassing things." He started down the road, then stopped and looked over his shoulder. "And ya can untie those guys and send 'em on their way if ya want. Otherwise they're just gonna make noise and scare off other people."

"Gotcha." Kouji turned to Kai, taking the knife one of the men had brandished at him and handing it to Kai. "You can do the honors. Try not to cut 'em too badly," he said with a grin. Kai returned it and Genrou looked away from them, heading back down the road. His business was waiting for him, after all.

000

The sun had made its way across the sky and was slipping down into the mountains by the time Genrou made it back from town and the other bandits were going up to the fortress to relax before dinner. He went up with them, congratulating them on a job well done, and when he didn't see Kai he went to his room and knocked on the door. No one answered and he knocked again.

"I don't think he's in there," Goh said on his way past. "Whichever of 'em you're lookin' for I mean. Nami's still on the road and the kid was on his way up the path last I saw him."

"Up the path?" Genrou frowned. _Where the hell is that kid goin' now?_ "Thanks," he said to Goh, then turned and went back out of the fortress, trying to think of where Kai could have gone. Something popped into his head and he turned on the path and walked toward the place he'd taken him once before. It was the only place that seemed even remotely possible and he looked up at the sky. It wasn't dark yet, but it would be past sunset soon.

He supposed he could just wait for Kai to come back. It was almost time for him to start making dinner and no matter how scatterbrained he was, he never skipped out on his chores. Genrou didn't really want to wait for him, though, especially now that he was sure he knew where Kai had gone.

When he walked up to the shrine he was relieved to find that he had been right. He could see Kai in front of the shrine, his hands pressed together in front of him in prayer. He couldn't hear what Kai was saying but it was obvious that he had taken Genrou's earlier lesson to heart.

There was something peaceful about the boy, and it wasn't only Genrou who saw it. A small bird fluttered down to peck at the ground around Kai's feet, then was joined by several others. Kai opened his eyes and looked down at them in surprise, then knelt down. All the birds but one flew away, and the first to approach him was the one that stayed. Kai put a hand out and, much to Genrou's disbelief, the bird hopped onto his finger.

"You're a brave one, huh?" Kai held the bird up to his face and it cocked its head at him. It made Kai laugh, just a bit, and Genrou blushed deeply, though he wasn't sure why. "Go on now," Kai said, raising his hand. The bird flew away as smoothly as a hawk from its handler and Kai watched it go before turning to walk back to the fortress. As soon as he did, Genrou jumped behind a tree. He didn't want Kai to know he'd been watching him, and for that matter his face was still red.

Moving as silently as the wolf he was named for, Genrou ran ahead of him through the trees and footpaths, only stepping out when he was sure he could intercept him without looking like an idiot. After years in the mountains, he knew exactly where the holes and uneven patches were and avoided them easily, unlike Kai who still had to be careful even on the well-worn paths.

"Where've ya been?" He spoke as casually as possible and Kai looked surprised to see him.

"Just paying my respects," Kai said with a curious look on his face. "What are you doing out here, Kashira?"

"I was lookin' for you, wasn't I?" Genrou folded his arms over his chest, hoping this made him look authoritative. "I told ya about goin' off on your own with that arm, didn't I?"

"My arm is fine. I swear."

"Here." With a sigh, Genrou took something out of his pocket and tossed it at Kai. He realized as he did that it was probably a bad idea, something that was confirmed when Kai flinched when he stretched out his arm to catch it. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Kai said, looking at the small jar. "What's this?"

"Medicine. For your arm. I got it down in the village from the doc." He shrugged as if this was no big deal. "I said I didn't want your arm to get infected and I meant it." Kai looked at him in surprise again, then back down at the jar, which had a small piece of cloth covering it and held down with string. "Figured it was the least I could do since ya got hurt savin' me."

"It was nothing," Kai said, turning the jar over. "I'd do it again in a second."

"Y'know, ya could just say thanks," Genrou said, and Kai turned his attention up to him. He met Genrou's eyes with his own and for the first time the leader realized that they were a deep green. It made him blush again and he cursed himself at the same time he hoped Kai wouldn't notice.

"Thank you, Kashira," he said with a smile that sent a blossom of warmth spreading from Genrou's stomach to the rest of his body.

_What the hell is this? Why am I getting all red over a guy?_

"Are you all right?" Kai looked at him with concern and he took a step back with a nervous smile. "Kashira?"

"I'm okay," he said, grinning harder. If Kai had noticed how strangely he was acting, he definitely needed to hide it better. _Hide it? What do I have to hide?_ "C'mon, let's get back to the fortress before it gets dark." He started down the path and Kai trotted after him to catch up. "I'm gonna hold ya to what ya said earlier about takin' it easy with that arm, or you'll hafta stay back at home."

"I will," Kai said, and there was something in his voice that told Genrou he wasn't just saying it this time. For whatever reason, Kai was actually taking him seriously and he relaxed. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes, then Kai looked up at him with a smile. "You didn't have to come get me. We aren't that far from the fortress. I would have been fine in the dark."

"It's my job to watch out for ya," Genrou said, not looking at the boy in an attempt to keep himself from blushing again. "Besides, there's wild animals out here at night and ya don't have any weapons right now."

"I have the knife Kouji Aniki gave me," Kai said, taking it out of his belt. "He said I could just keep it since it's probably small enough that I can use it without hurting myself." He chuckled. "He's really funny. I got to hear all kinds of stories about you."

"Don't believe any of 'em," Genrou said, rolling his eyes. They were within view of the fortress now and he was glad to see it. "Just outta curiosity, what kinda stuff was he tellin' ya?"

"Let's see," Kai said, holding his chin thoughtfully with his left hand. "He said you used to be pretty small too, so I shouldn't worry. Then he said you had to fight someone named Eiken to be the leader, then went on a long trip. Oh, and he said that you once beat the leader of the Mt. Kaou bandits."

"Thought he was just gonna tell ya about Kashira," Genrou said, rubbing his temples. He was at least grateful to Kouji for not going into the specifics of his 'trip.' "I had no idea he was gonna tell ya my life story."

"It was interesting," said Kai. "Besides, if I don't know how you got to be leader I'll never be able to challenge you for the throne."

"Oh, now you're gonna challenge me?" Genrou stopped and put his hands on his hips and Kai hurried ahead of him, laughing, just in case he got the urge to smack him. Genrou walked faster, and with his longer stride caught up to Kai just as they were going through the gates. "You're ten years too young to even think about it, kid."

"At least I have something to look forward to." They walked down to the leader's room where Kai gave a brief wave to Genrou and started toward his own room. Before he opened the door he turned back and looked at Genrou, holding up the jar. "Thank you again."

"It was nothin.'" He waited until Kai was safely in his room to go into the leader's room, where he closed the doors and immediately leaned back against them with a hand over his face. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

000

In her room, Kai sat on the bed and looked down at the jar. He'd brought it to her because he was worried about her arm. The idea that he was really that concerned about her made her happy in a way that she wished she could express. She hoped that he'd understood just how much she meant it when she thanked him earlier.

Kai leaned against the wall and rolled the jar between her palms. _This must have been his business in town. _If he'd gotten it from the doctor in the village, it meant he'd gone down to see him, told him what had happened, waited for the doctor to make the medicine, paid for it, then looked for her so he could give it to her. It seemed like a lot of effort for someone who he thought of as just one of the guys, but she shook her head as soon as she thought this.

_Don't be silly,_ she thought. _The only reason he did it was because you saved his life. Don't start seeing things that aren't there or you're going to let your guard down. Then it'll be goodbye Kai, nice knowing you._

The door opened and Nami came inside to take off his armor. He looked at his bed and shook his head but Kai didn't notice. She was still looking at the jar of medicine as if by staring at it she could understand Genrou's intentions.

"What's that?" Nami joined her at the side of the bed and pointed at Kai's hands.

"Medicine," she said, her eyes on the jar. "Kashira gave it to me." Carefully, she untied the string and took off the cloth cover. A strong medicinal smell rose from the jar and she pulled away with a grimace on her face.

"Don't tell me I'm gonna have to put up with that smell until you're healed," Nami said.

"Kashira gave it to me," Kai repeated, untying the sash that held her shirt closed. "I have to use it." She paused. "Is the door locked?"

"It is now," Nami replied, reaching back to bolt the door. "Can't you just tell him you used it and spare us both that stench?"

"Nope," Kai said, shrugging off one arm of her shirt so she could unwind the bandage from her wound. "He was nice enough to get it for me, so I'm going to make sure I use it." Her earlier struggle with the chest had opened the wound a little again and she dabbed the medicinal paste on it. It stung slightly but she didn't flinch. "Help me rebandage my arm, please?"

"That means I've gotta get close enough to smell you," Nami said, coming over anyway. He carefully put the bandage back on her and tied it. Kai put her shirt back on over the bandage and flexed her fingers. "There."

"Thanks," she said. "Maybe this will make me heal faster."

"Let's hope so. If for no other reason than to get that stuff outta our room." Nami started taking off his armor and Kai continued to sit on the bed, feeling the sting as the medicine worked its way all the way into her skin. It wasn't entirely unpleasant and once again she found herself thinking about Genrou and his gift.

_It's his job to take care of us guys_, she thought a little glumly. _Just like he said._ Her eyes strayed to the jar on the table by the wall and she picked it up again. _But he gave me this. If he wasn't at least a little worried about me he wouldn't have done it. Right? So maybe he-_

"Are you gonna sit there the rest of the night holding that jar or are you gonna get down to the kitchen and start making dinner?"

"Oh!" Kai sprang up from the bed and set the jar down on the table. "Sorry!" She darted out of the room and to the kitchen, dodging other bandits along the way. The last thing she wanted to do was to make anyone wait for dinner, especially Genrou.

With her usual speed, she made the dishes and got them out on the table just as the others were sitting down. Genrou and Kouji were sitting together as always and she paused in the doorway just long enough to smile at them before going back for another plate. She held a plate with her left hand and hugged two bottles of sake to her chest with her right, then went back out. After setting down the drinks, Kai leaned over to set a plate down between Kouji and Genrou.

"What is that smell?" Kouji looked suspiciously at Kai, who blushed a little.

"It's medicine I put on my arm," she said. "It does have kind of a strong smell."

"You're usin' it, then?" Genrou grinned at her and she nodded, blushing deeper. "Good. The doc said it'd heal ya up fast. And don't let these guys give ya a hard time about the smell. That just means it's workin.'"

"Oh, so _you're_ to blame for this?" Kouji sighed. "I should've known."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Kai left them to their banter and finished serving dinner, then sat beside Nami and ate her own dinner while she stole glances at Genrou. He and Kouji were laughing and pouring each other drinks and she found herself wishing she could sit closer to him. She contented herself with the happiness she'd felt when he gave her the jar of medication and smiled at her rice.

A moment later she looked up and her eyes met Genrou's. They held each other's gaze for a long moment that made all the sound disappear from the room, then Kai looked back down at her plate with her cheeks on fire. Nami saw her and gave her good shoulder a shove. She looked up at him, frowning.

"What was that for?"

"Stop acting like such a kid," he growled, but they both knew he meant 'girl.' Kai turned away from him and finished her rice. "You're such a brat," he muttered. "Get me some more rice, will you?" Without arguing, Kai got up and took his bowl to the kitchen.

_He's right_, she thought, refilling the rice and going back out to the dining hall. _I can't let this get to me. It's a sure-fire way to get myself kicked off the mountain. I just can't seem to stop looking at him._

Kai brought the rice to the table and sat it down in front of Nami, then dropped heavily into her seat. Much to her relief, Goh started up a conversation about when she would be able to practice archery again. While she talked, she made a conscious effort not to pay any attention to the leader at the other end of the table. If she tried very hard, she thought she could almost make it happen.


	10. The Forbidden Outing

"Hey Kai!" Genrou put an an arm around Kai's neck and she stumbled forward, the arrow she had been aiming falling from her bow. "Today's a special occasion!"

"A what?" She blushed both from dropping the arrow and the warmth of his arm. Genrou grinned at her.

"I've been watchin' ya shoot and it looks like you're all healed up. This calls for a celebration!" He let go of her and waved to Kouji. "Hey, Kouji! Whaddaya think about goin' down to town and havin' a guys' night?"

"Sure, I'm up for it," Kouji said. "Gonna make the new kid a man, huh?"

"After everything he's been through, what else would ya expect from a thoughtful, distinguished gentleman such as myself?" Kai picked up her arrow, thinking that this was a terrible idea and wondering how they would take it if she said she didn't want to go out on the town. "We'll go to the teahouse down the way. Hell, I'll even introduce you to Mei."

"Mei?"

"She's a great girl. If ya need to relax, she's the one to see." Kai had no intention of relaxing in the way Genrou was insinuating and she searched desperately for an excuse. She lined the arrow up on her bow again, only to have it fall again when Genrou slapped her on the back. "It's settled, then! We're goin' out on the town tonight!"

"But I-"

"No buts! It's on me tonight, kid. All ya hafta do is sit back and enjoy yourself."

Kai knelt down to pick up her arrow, staying close to the ground longer than was absolutely necessary in the hopes that Genrou and Kouji would go back into the fortress and leave her alone so she could come up with an excuse not to go. To her dismay, they had decided that the yard was a good place to talk over their plans and she sighed heavily. She put the arrow on her bowstring one more time, and this time she was able to shoot it directly into the center of one of the targets.

"Nice shot!" Genrou gave her a thumbs-up and turned to Kouji. "Told ya he was gettin' good. Anyway, go on and keep practicin' and we'll head down the mountain before it gets too dark."

"If you say so," she replied unenthusiastically, looking back at the targets as he went back to the porch. Instead of shooting another arrow, she went to the tree and pulled out the ones she'd already shot and poked at the tips. With all the practicing she'd done, the points were getting a little dull and she decided to quit for the day and spend a little time putting the edge back on them. When she turned around, Nami was standing behind her.

"Bad luck, kid."

"What are you talking about? I nailed those targets." She knew exactly what Nami was talking about but had decided that ignoring the situation was the best way to deal with it, at least until they dragged her along for the ride later that night.

"Don't worry about it, I'll come with you," Nami said, following her back up to the fortress. "Unless you figure out a way to get out of it."

"I don't see how I can if they've got their hearts set on taking me out," she sighed, pushing open the door. "Unless I can find a way to get hit with another arrow before dark." Kai looked at Nami hopefully. "You don't know how to shoot a bow, do you?"

"Nope. Sorry." Kai opened her mouth again and he shook his head. "I'm not gonna stab you, either. If you wanna get out of this, it's up to you to figure something out."

"Great."

000

Unfortunately for Kai, she hadn't been able to come up with either a good excuse or an accident before the sun went down which meant that she found herself stuck in a group of bandits that included Kouji, Genrou, and Nami, walking down the path to town. She was grateful to Nami for coming along. According to him, teahouses weren't really his thing but he had agreed to come along to try and head off any uncomfortable situations.

Her mind was working overtime as they walked and she looked for a hole to step in or some loose rocks, anything to keep them from reaching town. For once in her clumsy life there was nothing to trip her up and she looked at Genrou's back, wondering why he couldn't just take no for an answer. He seemed to sense her lack of enthusiasm and looked over his shoulder to find that she was lagging behind the group.

"C'mon, Kai! Don't wanna get left behind, do ya?" Kai resisted the urge to tell him that was exactly what she was trying to do and gave him a smile that she hoped didn't look as sick as she felt.

They reached town quicker than usual, which was usually how things went when she was dreading something. The merchants were closing up shop and the streets were emptying for the night so the bandits were able to walk in their group together. Everyone but Kai and Nami were laughing and talking about how much they were going to drink and she decided that the best plan might be to drink until she passed out.

"Almost there," Genrou said, grinning over at Kai. He had dragged her to the front of the group when she looked like she was going to be left behind and she looked in the direction he was pointing. "That's the place." As soon as she saw the teahouse he indicated, her breath caught in her throat.

"We can't go to that teahouse," Kai said, stepping in front of Genrou and Kouji. She tried not to let the panic she was feeling creep around the edges of her words. They stared at her and she forced a look of bravado onto her face. "I'm not allowed."

"You're not allowed?"

"Yeah, I got a little too drunk and got into a fight with one of the other guys. Took three of 'em to get me off the guy." Kai punched a fist into her hand and grinned. "So they told me not to show my face in there anymore." To his relief, Genrou started laughing right away, throwing back his head with his arms folded over his chest.

"There's never a dull moment with you around, is there?" He motioned to the other men to follow him further down the street to another teahouse. "Come on, we'll hit one of the other places then. After all, we're celebratin' ya tonight, right?"

"Uh, right." They walked past the teahouse and Kai exhaled as soon as they were on the other side of it. One crisis had been averted, at least. Nami shook his head and Kai punched him in the arm. It was like being hit with a small broken rock and he resisted the urge to put a hand on her shoulder and shove her off the street altogether.

One of the other bandits suggested a teahouse at the end of the street and Kai agreed reluctantly, since she couldn't claim to have been banned from all of them. Now that she'd said it, though, she was starting to regret it. Now they'd really expect her to be the life of the party, something that she had hoped to avoid.

"Hey there," Genrou said as they walked through the door. "Got room for a party of ten? We're lookin' for your best booze and your prettiest girls!" A well-dressed woman greeted them and showed them to a large room with short tables arranged into a square.

"Please, have a seat. I'll send some of the ladies in to serve you. We serve some of the finest food in Souun as well." She didn't have to tell them twice, and Kai was fairly hungry. The thought of a meal she hadn't had to prepare was a pleasant one, even if the rest of the night was going to be spent trying to put off the inevitable.

Much as she hated to admit it, the service was excellent at the teahouse. The bandits had no sooner sat down at the tables than a number of pretty girls came in with trays containing bottles of sake and cups. A girl with long hair pulled up into a fancy arrangement knelt beside Kai and poured her a drink.

"Here you go," she said demurely. Kai took the cup gratefully, her eyes skating over the girl's bare shoulders and the necklace hovering over the very slight amount of cleavage she showed. She was very pretty and the smile Kai gave her was genuine. "Can I get you anything else, sir?"

"Ah, no. Thank you, miss."

"Karin," the girl supplied. "And if there's anything I can do for you, anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask me." Kai nodded and Karin touched her shoulder lightly. "You won't be needing this here, will you?" She was referring to the bow on Kai's back, something she had forgotten she was even carrying. Kai shook her head and Karin gently took it and her arrows, leaning them against the wall. Out of the corner of her eye, Kai could see Genrou giving her a thumbs up and a wink, and she downed the rest of her drink in one gulp. Immediately, Karin refilled it.

Food was brought out, along with more liquor, but Kai wasn't able to do more than pick at it. One of the other girls, a sweet-faced girl whose name Kai hadn't caught, was leaning on Genrou while one who could have been her twin talked to Kouji. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at the girl's attentions. She'd never be able to touch him and talk to him like that, and the knowledge made her gulp down another drink.

Between Kai's desire to keep her mind off Genrou and the courtesan and her half-baked plan to drink until she passed out to avoid being treated to the full services of the teahouse, she had no problem with Karin's excellent service, even if the girl did keep brushing against her and touching her arm.

"Is everything all right, sir?" Karin smiled at Kai, who nodded. "You're awfully quiet."

"I'm fine," Kai said, trying to return her smile. The more she drank, the easier it became. "Thank you for all your help."

"It's my pleasure." Seeing that Kai's cup was empty, Karin reached across her for the sake. "You'll have to forgive me, I haven't even asked your name."

"It's Kai," she said, holding out her cup for more. Karin filled it and Kai downed it at once. The heat that blossomed in her stomach spread to the rest of her body and when she turned to the girl her vision was a little blurred.

"That's a really nice name," Karin said. She moved to pour Kai another drink and found that the bottle was empty. "Oh my," she said with a laugh. "You certainly can drink, Kai. Let me just go get another bottle for you."

"Take your time," Kai said. She leaned back on her hands and looked over at Nami. Despite his earlier protests, he seemed to be enjoying himself as well. He hadn't even glanced over at her for some time. Almost against her will, she turned her attention to Genrou. The courtesan was snuggled up to his side in a way that Kai was sort of glad Karin wasn't doing to her. It was hard for her to look at, though, especially since Genrou seemed to be enjoying it. He put his arm around her and Kai looked away, her eyes burning.

She wanted to leave, and this last thing was more than she could bear. Kai looked at the other bandits, who were even drunker than she was, then stood up and went out to the hall. She could hear Genrou and Kouji laughing and sighed heavily, wondering if they would even miss her. Not giving herself time to think about this too hard, Kai opened the window and looked out. It wasn't too far up. A young woman was coming down the hall toward her and she made up her mind in that instance. Her head light from the sake, she vaulted over the windowsill and landed on the ground lightly below.

Her first few steps after standing up were a little shaky but she recovered quickly. Looking back at the teahouse made her a little uncomfortable and she started down the path back to the mountain quickly, just in case anyone came looking for her. Kai left behind the boisterous laughter of her fellow bandits and made her way through town, wondering if Nami would make excuses for her.

Everything was going smoothly until she got to the road and saw two men walking toward the path to Mt. Kaou. Even drunk, Kai knew that the last thing she needed was to get into a fight with two men twice her size when there was no one around to help. Not to mention they both had swords and likely knew how to use them far more effectively than she could, even if she'd had hers. All she had at the moment was her knife and-

"Dammit," she hissed to herself. Her bow was back at the teahouse. There was no going back for it now. Her best bet was to wait until they were gone, then move as quickly as possible up through the trees to the fortress. Kai slid down against the tree until she was sitting on the ground. She tipped her head back and looked at the sky through the leaves.

There were so many stars in the sky. She remembered picking the constellations out with her father when she was little and being amazed at how many he knew. He'd showed her where to find the constellations of Suzaku and she searched for them then, even though her head was spinning.

_Let's see, there's Hotohori, Chiriko, Mitsukake, Tamahome, Nuriko, Chichiri and..._ She closed her eyes and frowned a little. _Wasn't there one more?_ The darkness behind her eyelids was deeper than the night around her and she sighed. Maybe she'd remember it once she sobered up. Kai began to drift off then, her mind occupied with the last constellation. _Why can't I remember?_

000

It was cooler than Genrou had expected when he stepped out of the teahouse, Kai's bow in his hand. He looked up and down the street and saw no one but other drunken men walking in and out of teahouses. _Where the hell did that idiot go?_

He'd seen Kai leave the table but figured he was just going to the bathroom or something since he'd really been putting away the liquor. The next time his eyes had wandered up the table, meaning to ask the boy the name of the girl who had been serving him, he'd realized Kai had disappeared altogether. Even more concerning was the fact that he'd left without his bow, which just proved that he was in no state to be wandering the streets by himself.

Cursing to himself, Genrou walked back toward town. The streets were empty and there was no sign of Kai, which could only mean that he was on his way back to the fortress. This thought did not fill him with comfort and he walked faster. The mountains were a dangerous place at night for a short, skinny kid who might or might not even have his knife on him.

When he reached the path that led into Mt. Leikaku, Genrou decided to cut through the trees in order to get there faster. He emerged into a clearing where, to his surprise, someone was sitting against a tree. His responsibility to the travelers through the mountains fought with his desire to find Kai before he got into trouble, but the struggle lasted only a few seconds before he realized that the person on the ground was the one he was searching for.

His first thought was that Kai had been hurt and fear gripped him as he moved closer. There didn't seem to be blood on his clothes, at least not that he could see in the moonlight, and he could see Kai's chest rising and falling slightly. Relief washed over him as he realized that the boy was only sleeping, and he went over to him.

"What're ya doin' out here?" There was no answer from Kai, whose chin was touching his chest. Genrou put his foot on Kai's outstretched leg and kicked him lightly. "Hey. Wake up."

"Huh?" Kai's head came up and he looked around, confused. "Kashira?" It seemed to take him a second to register that Genrou was standing in front of him but when he did he sprang to his feet. "Kashira! I'm sorry, I'll get right on breakfast!"

"Breakfast? In the middle of the night?"

"Huh?" Kai looked around, seemed to realize where he was, and blushed with a fierceness that had nothing to do with the sake he had drank. "Oh. Right. I'm sorry, I guess I just kinda-"

"Passed out," Genrou finished for him with a sigh. "In the bushes. On a road leading into the mountains. In the middle of the night." Every word he said made Kai turn redder and he shook his head. He hadn't wanted to embarrass the boy. _Well, maybe just a little. _"Ya shouldn't be out here," Genrou said, handing Kai his bow. "Especially without your weapon. What the hell were ya thinkin' leavin' the teahouse when you're still drunk? Ya could have run into some of those bastards from Mt. Kaou."

"There were some of 'em on the road before," Kai mumbled, putting the bow on his back. "That's why I was sittin' over here. I guess I just nodded off."

"I can see that." He looked carefully at Kai. The boy was obviously still drunk, he could tell that much from his red cheeks, and for a moment he thought about dragging Kai back to the teahouse so he'd at least have a place to sleep it off. If he sent him up into the mountains, he'd probably break his leg falling into a hole.

"If they're gone, I can go back up to the fortress," Kai said. Then, as if he'd read Genrou's mind, he smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt myself."

"When ya say it like that, I almost believe ya." He turned his back on Kai and motioned for the boy to follow him. "C'mon, I'll walk with ya back up to the fortress."

"I don't need help," Kai said predictably. "You should go on back to the teahouse and finish havin' guys' night."

"Eh, I'm kinda over it," replied Genrou. It wasn't much of an exaggeration. "Maybe I'm just gettin' too old for it." He started up the road but didn't hear Kai's footsteps behind him so he stopped and looked back. Kai was still standing by the tree, looking as if he was lost. "Ya comin' or what?" Something occurred to him and he went back and put a hand on Kai's shoulder. "Gonna throw up?"

"No, I'm fine."

"It's okay if ya do. I saw ya puttin' away a lotta booze back there." He grinned. "It was kinda impressive for someone your size."

"I'm not that small," Kai said, pushing his hand off his shoulder. "Why is that all anyone can ever say about me?" He took a few steps forward that looked more like staggering and for some reason Genrou found this, along with his irritation, amusing. "It's like, I'm so sorry for being so damn short. Sorry I can't keep growing. Like I'm excited to be the smallest guy 'round here!" Kai was wobbling toward the road and Genrou went after him, trying to hold in his laughter. "It's like-whoa!" A rock the size of a loaf of bread was laying in the road and with a look of surprise as he tripped over it, Kai pitched forward and Genrou ran to catch him before he fell.

"Told ya you'd hurt yourself." Grinning even though he knew it would annoy Kai, Genrou put an arm around the boy's waist. "C'mon before ya pass out and I hafta drag ya up the mountain. Just let me know if you're gonna puke so I can get ya away from my shirt. I just washed this."

"You mean _I_ just washed it."

"Guess ya did, now that I think about it." Relenting a little, Kai put his arm around Genrou's shoulders as best he could and let the leader prop him up. "How'd ya even make it this far from the teahouse without fallin' down?"

"I was fine 'til I sat down."

"Uh-huh."

Genrou walked Kai up the mountain with his arm around his waist the entire time, the boy wobbling a little but for the most part a lot steadier than he had been when he first stood back up. There was something nice about having his arm around him, though. He was small enough that it was almost like having his arm around a girl.

Once they were back up at the fortress, Genrou steered Kai through the gates with a wave to the bandits stationed at the entrance. Kai was starting to stumble again and he figured the best thing for him was to get to bed. He helped him to Nami's and his room and let go of him only when Kai was beside the bed. He plopped onto it and lay back as Genrou shook his head, hands on his hips.

"Get some sleep," Genrou said, even though he knew Kai was probably going to be asleep before he left the room. "This doesn't get ya outta makin' breakfast in the mornin.'" Kai didn't answer and he went to the door. Something occurred to him and he turned back. "Hey, Kai?" There was a sort of mutter from the bed and Genrou looked at his shape from the light that came through the door. "Why'd ya leave?"

"Hmm?"

"The teahouse. What made ya leave?"

"Mmm." There was a rustling, then a small snore came from the boy's direction and he couldn't help smiling. There was no point in asking him when he was drunk and he wasn't about to wake him up just to get an answer to his question. The best thing he could do was let him sleep it off and try to remember to ask him in the morning.

In the hallway, Genrou stopped on the way to his room. Part of him was considering going back down the mountain to finish what he'd started, but he looked back at Kai's room and found that he really didn't want to after all. Even though it didn't look like the kid was going to wake up anytime soon, he didn't want to leave him alone.

_That's stupid_, Genrou told himself. _It ain't like he'd come lookin' for ya if he woke up._ There was always the remote possibility that he would, though, so Genrou went the rest of the way down the hall to the leader's room and went inside to get undressed. The night hadn't gone quite the way he'd planned but for some reason he felt like it had turned out okay after all.

000

"Outta my bed, brat."

"Huh?" Kai opened her eyes and saw Nami towering over her. She sat up and looked around. "Oh, I guess I must have fallen asleep when I got back." With a yawn, she slid off the bed and dragged her blankets over from the wall. Not bothering to put them in any kind of order, she kicked off her boots and crawled on the messy pile, tugging her favorite blanket over her.

"How'd you even get back here in one piece?" Nami started taking off his armor and Kai frowned for a moment, then blushed as it all came back to her. How she'd fallen asleep by the road and Genrou had come looking for her, and how he'd put his arm around her to help her home. She curled tighter under the blanket, unable to decide if she was humiliated or overjoyed.

"Kashira helped me," she said, smiling in the darkness. "He came looking for me and helped me back up the path."

"Good thing someone did. You were drinking like you were trying to forget a woman or something." He stopped and thought about this. "Maybe not a woman. I'll bet you were trying to pass out so you wouldn't have to make some kind of excuse to the girl who was trying to get you in bed."

"That's stupid," Kai said, blushing. She couldn't believe her plan had been quite so obvious. "Why else would I jump out a window?"

"I can't tell if you're brilliant or stupid sometimes." Nami walked past her and got into bed. "So when did this thing with Kashira start?"

"What?" Kai's head snapped toward Nami. She clutched her blanket and tried to smile as if he had asked the silliest of questions. "Wh-what are you talking about? There's nothing going on between Kashira and I."

"But you wish there was," Nami said. Kai didn't say anything and she could hear him smirking at her. "Don't even try to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about either. Maybe no one else around here has a clue but I spend too much time with you not to know."

"I don't think you understand," Kai said. "It's just that I admire him so much-"

"That you can't stop staring at him?" There was still too much liquor coursing through Kai's system to come up with a good comeback for this so she rolled away from Nami. "I thought something was weird with you lately. The way you were looking at him at the teahouse was a dead giveaway. You probably shouldn't get that drunk again unless you're planning to let everyone in the place know your dark secret. Both of them."

"I need to go to the bathroom," Kai said, wanting more to escape than anything else. Her head was still spinning, however, and in the dark she got completely turned around. "Oof!" There was a clatter and splash as the basin fell off the table and onto her feet. Fortunately – or unfortunately – almost all the water ended up on her rather than the floor. "Dammit!"

"Just light the lantern, you drunk."

"I don't need the lantern." Kai leaned over to pick up the basin and bumped her head on the basin. "Ow," she said, rubbing her forehead. Nami sighed deeply, then got up and lit the lantern for her. Kai was standing by the table with the basin in one hand and her hand pressed to her forehead with the other. She was still wearing the same clothes she had been when they went into town, but they were soaked with water and sticking to her.

"That's actually kind of impressive," Nami said, giving Kai and the puddle a wide berth. In the corner, draped over a changing screen Kai had found in the storage room, were several towels and he pulled one of them down. "Here, catch." He tossed the towel at Kai and it hit her in the face. He shook his head. "I'm amazed someone as clumsy as you was ever able to save Kashira's life in the first place."

"You're the one who threw that, Aniki." Kai dropped the towel on the floor and put the basin back, keeping an eye on the table in case it tried something again.

"I told you to catch it." With a shrug, Nami watched her clean up the water, then drape the towel over the screen and trade it for another to dry herself off. She was wetter than she thought and ducked behind the screen to change into something else. "And you'd better get a whole lot better at hiding it, unless you want someone else to figure it out," he added. Kai knew exactly what he was talking about and as she stripped off her shirt and adjusted the strips of cloth that kept her breasts bound into the shape of a boy's chest, she decided that the next time the guys went into town, she would come up with some sort of excuse.

_But he came looking for you_, a little voice in the back of her mind said. _That makes everything worth it, doesn't it?_ Kai considered this, then remembered how she'd almost run into the Mt. Kaou bandits drunk and without her weapon. Things could have gone very badly very quickly and it was this that she was thinking about when she came around the side of the screen and blew out the lantern. _Maybe drinking isn't for me after all_.


	11. A Death in the Family

"I can't believe it's already fall," Kai said, leaning back on her rock. As if answering her, a breeze blew over her and Nami, who was polishing his sword. "But I am glad the weather's cooling off. It was hot last spring too."

"Yeah, weather's been weird. Summer was rainier than usual too. Just be glad we don't live in Sailou, it'd be hot all the time." Nami looked at the road. "Not much business today."

"Good thing yesterday was busy," replied Kai. "Some of the stuff we took in was really nice. We can sell it for a lot." The road remained quiet and she looked at the enormous man she had come to think of as her partner. "Hey, Aniki?"

"Here we go," Nami said, rolling his eyes. "What is it this time? Want to know how many brothers and sisters I have? My favorite color? How pathetic you are at hiding your-" A high-pitched whistle broke the air and Nami stood up straight. He motioned for Kai to follow him and she jumped off her rock. "That's Goh's whistle. He and Kyohei must be in trouble."

"Trouble?" Apart from being shot and the occasional tough customer, Kai hadn't seen much trouble. She ran after Nami, her heart pounding in her chest in time with her boots hitting the hard-packed dirt of the road. Before she could ask what kind of trouble they could be in for, they came over the small hill and found Kyohei and Goh fighting four men as hard as they could.

"Let's make this fight a little fairer," Nami growled, drawing his sword. Kai reached back to do the same, realizing a moment too late that she had brought her bow instead. One of the men turned his attention to her and she cursed herself for only carrying her long range weapon.

_Too late to worry about it now_, she thought as the man she assumed was a bandit chuckled.

"Sendin' a boy to do a man's job now? I knew the Leikaku bandits were gettin' soft."

"Why don't you get a little closer and say that?" The words were in Kai's mouth before she had time to think about them and the smirk on her opponent's face turned hard. Without answering, he ran at her with his sword down. Kai ducked the thrust of the bandit's sword expertly, as if she was doing some sort of ballet move, then hauled her arm back and punched him in the stomach hard enough to double him over. It was inelegant, but she took the opportunity to kick the sword out of his hand. It skittered out of his reach into the bushes and she pulled out her knife.

"Get out of here," she said, mustering up all her courage. Kai had never threatened anyone before, and she'd definitely never used a knife but all she could think of was that these men had hurt one of her brothers and she had to make them pay. "Or I'll cut them off."

"No brat like you is gonna tell me where to go," the bandit said. "I don't need a sword to fight you, I can break you in half with my bare hands."

"Try it." Kai hadn't done much hand-to-hand combat but she fell back into a defensive stance the way she'd seen others do. Her knife was clutched in her hand, daring the bandit to come at her. Before he could take a step, though, a blade sliced through the air and took him down. Kai looked up, surprised, and found Kouji standing with his sword out.

"Were you really gonna try and fight him with that little thing?"

"Kouji Aniki!" Kai was both relieved and confused at the same time. She had no idea how Kouji would have appeared so suddenly but she was glad he had. He gestured at her bow.

"Get up on that hill and get ready to start pickin' guys off. As soon as they know somethin's up they're gonna come down here and start a real fight." Kai nodded at him and turned to go, her bow in hand, when she heard a shout that drew both her and Kouji's attention. She turned just in time to see Kyohei drop onto the ground. The bandit standing over him was grinning as blood ran down his sword and Kouji leapt forward to fight him. "Check on him, see how bad he is," he directed Kai. Even though she didn't have any more medical experience than the others, she ran to the fallen bandit and knelt beside him.

"Kyohei!" Kai didn't have to search hard to find the source of the blood that was covering him. A hole in the center of his chest was bleeding freely onto the ground and he was gasping for air, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth to his beard. "Don't try to talk, Aniki." He looked like he was drowning and she put her arms around him and hauled him into a sitting position.

She didn't know what to do. This wasn't a broken leg or a graze from an arrow. Even she could tell that it was serious, particularly when she saw that the back of his shirt was also soaked with blood. While she was trying to figure out what she should do, he stiffened in her arms, clawing at her chest for a brief moment before slumping forward onto her. His chest was no longer moving, and when Kai looked into his eyes she could see he was dead.

Gently, she laid him on the ground and looked at him through eyes that were threatening to spill tears. She dug her fingers into her thighs to send them back to where they belonged and stood up. The bandits had fled back up the road that led to Mt. Kaou, leaving the Mt. Leikaku bandits to take stock of their wounds and the situation. Kai was so preoccupied with thoughts of Kyohei that she barely noticed that Genrou had joined the fray. He turned to look at her, then hurried over immediately.

"Are ya okay?" Genrou grabbed Kai by the shoulders and shook her, his eyes combing her for evidence of any wounds. "Where'd ya get hurt?"They lingered on the blood across the front of her shirt and she looked down to see what he was looking at. When she realized what it was, she gave him a half-smile.

"It's not my blood," she said, turning to Kyohei and pointing. "It's his."

"Kyohei?" Genrou went over to the body with Kai close behind, still looking and feeling a little stunned. He knelt down for a closer look, then dropped his head. "Dammit."

"What do we do?" Kai asked this in a soft voice that was far more feminine than she had intended. If Genrou noticed, he didn't point it out. Instead, he looked over his shoulder at the mountain path.

"We take him home," he said. "We'll clean him up and bury him."

"Oh," Kai said. She leaned over and looked at the corpse. It wasn't the first she'd seen; it wasn't even the first victim of a sword fight. There was something different about this, though, and she felt her eyes brimming again. Hoping Genrou wouldn't see her, she quickly swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I wish I could have done something."

"Ya did," Genrou said, standing up. "Weren't ya with him at the end?" Kai nodded and he smiled, just a little. "At least he didn't die alone."

The others joined them beside Kyohei's body and looked down at it together. Nami shook his head, then leaned down and picked him up without a word. The rest of the bandits walked behind him silently, as if in a funeral procession, thinking to themselves that their bruises and cuts could have easily been fatal if they had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As they came across others on their way up the mountain, they joined the group without so much as a question about what had happened. The only ones who remained in their place were the guards at the gate, but even they were silent. Everything they could say seemed meaningless.

"Take him to the back," Genrou said, breaking the silence. "Kouji, go ahead and get some spare clothes out of his room. Goh, you were his best pal, do you mind cleaning him up?"

"Of course not."

"Good. We'll bury him before the sun goes down." He looked from one face to another. "Anybody wanna volunteer to dig a grave?"

"I will," Kai said, stepping forward. Genrou looked at her dubiously and Kouji put a hand on her shoulder with a smile.

"I'll help. You'll probably hurt yourself if you tried to do it alone," he said. "First we'll find a big enough rock to be a headstone, then we'll get started digging. C'mon." Kouji nodded to the yard. "I'll show you where the graveyard is."

"Graveyard?"

"Yeah. We don't lose guys often," Kouji said, leading her outside to a small shack that held digging and other gardening tools. "But when we do, we usually bury 'em here. A lot of 'em don't have family or anyone to do it. Besides, they're all family to us."

"Yeah," Kai said, taking the shovel he handed her. Kouji led her to a small area in the back where several gravestones marked the resting places of other bandits that had died. There was something terribly sad about this and before she could stop herself, a tear escaped the corner of her eye and ran down to her chin. She half-expected Kouji to laugh at her or tell her to be a man about it but instead he put a hand on her shoulder again. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he said kindly. "Let's get to digging. That'll take your mind off it a little." Kai nodded her agreement, then followed him to look for a rock.

000

While Kouji and Kai were getting Kyohei's grave ready, Genrou stood at the window and watched them for a moment. Kai seemed to be taking it hard and he was glad Kouji was helping him. He turned away from the sight of them digging and went back to the leader's room, where he sank into his chair heavily.

When he had been a teenager, the Mt. Kaou bandits were some of the fiercest around and they'd had a rivalry with the Mt. Leikaku bandits that had resulted in a great deal of bloodshed. The leader at that time, Keiron, had crawled away from the mountain like a whipped dog after his little sister was killed and Genrou battled a demon at their fortress. But now a new group of bandits had taken up residence in the old stronghold and they seemed as determined to build a reputation as dark as their predecessors. As much as he hated to think about it, Genrou was fairly certain that this was only the beginning. Starting the next day, they would have to be more cautious. He lowered his head and sighed. As soon as Kouji came in he could help him think of something.

Something else popped into his head and he rubbed his temples. Now that Kyohei's room was empty he supposed he could give it to Kai. The boy had spent six months sleeping on the floor and it was high time he got an upgrade. It all seemed so final, though, and he wondered how Kai would feel about it. He got back up and looked out the window at where Kai and Kouji were digging. They were working much faster than he'd expected.

Before he knew it, they were ready to bury their friend. The rest of the bandits had come up from the restaurant and their places on the paths after word of his death had spread. This time even the guards from the front gate came after securing their post. The last thing they needed was another battle that could potentially cost more lives.

Without a word, Nami and Goh laid his body in the ground and each of the bandits threw a handful of soil into the grave. Genrou saw that the palms of Kai's hands had blisters on them and he hoped the kid had some of the medicine he'd given him so he could rub it on them. He had to admire Kai for volunteering even though he knew his hands weren't meant for manual labor.

"We're all here to say bye to ya," Genrou said to Kyohei's still form as if he was still alive. "It's gonna be hard without ya but we'll make it through. I know that's what ya would've wanted. Thanks for everything ya did for us. We won't forget it."

With that, Kai and Kouji picked up their shovels again and began to cover him. This time the other bandits joined in until a mound of earth covered Kyohei. They had already set the big white stone they'd found at the head of the grave. Once it was over, the group dispersed and Kouji followed Genrou back to his room to talk without being asked.

"This is probably the worst thing that could happen," Kouji said as he closed the door and Genrou sank into his chair with a sigh. "How do you want to handle it?"

"I dunno," Genrou said. "I don't really wanna start a war with them if I don't hafta. But if they're comin' down the mountain to attack our guys that seems like the only way to keep the peace. If we keep on fightin', we're not the only ones that'll get hurt. We're supposed to protect the travelers, not get 'em involved in this."

"Right," Kouji said with a nod. "What's our first move?"

"Let's put more guys down on the road. We'll hafta make sure they know to watch their backs and that they carry their weapons with 'em at all times." Kai and his knife popped into his head and he amended his statement. "Swords and stuff like that. And we'll keep our archers on the hill so they can keep a lookout and shoot anyone who doesn't belong here."

"You think the kid is good enough yet for that?" Kouji looked dubious and Genrou thought about this, then shook his head.

"Nah. We'll have him stay with Nami for now. We definitely hafta make sure the traps up by the fortress are workin' though. If they're gettin' brave enough to start fights, they might be thinkin' of comin' up and tryin' to get inside." He ran a hand through his hair. "That's all we can do for now. Hopefully they'll think about comin' back here for a while."

"Hopefully," Kouji said, then went back to the door. "Hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna go back to my room for a little while before dinner."

"Yeah, I kinda need to be alone for a while too." Kouji pushed open the doors and went into the hall, leaving Genrou to his thoughts.

For the thousandth time, he thought about how hard being the leader could be. He had to think about protecting the mountain and his men at the same time, had to make the hard decisions and come up with strategies when things like this happened. It was hard to think about anything when Kyohei's death was so fresh in his mind. He got up and went over to his bed, where he sat down and then lay back on it. He felt drained and not much like going to dinner but he didn't want to be the only one who didn't show up. Closing his eyes for a moment he sighed heavily. It wouldn't hurt to sleep just a little.

When he woke up several hours later it had gotten dark and he sat up so fast his head spun. He was sure he'd missed dinner and wondered why Kouji hadn't woken him up. The thought that his place at the table had been empty made him feel guilty and he got up to go to the dining hall to see if anyone was still there.

It was completely empty when he got there and he rubbed his forehead._ What kinda leader doesn't even go to dinner with his guys when somethin' like this happens?_ While he was thinking this he heard a clatter from the kitchen and went to see what it was, grateful for the distraction. On his way he wondered if it was Kai, still in the kitchen cleaning up.

He wasn't surprised when he found Kai in the kitchen with a plate on the floor, its food scattered everywhere. The boy's clumsiness was legendary at times. What did surprise him was that Kai wasn't cleaning it up. Instead, his hands were planted on the table and he was leaning over it as if trying to support himself.

"Hey," Genrou said, leaning over so he was in Kai's line of sight. "You okay?"

"Kashira?" Kai's head jerked up and it looked as if he had narrowly escaped crying. "I'm sorry, I'll clean it up. My hand just slipped when I was moving it and, I mean, I guess I don't have to explain it to you." He smiled, but Genrou could tell his heart wasn't in it. "I'll clean it up now."

"Don't worry about it. I'll help ya." Genrou knelt down to pick up the plate and Kai did the same, a panicked look on his face.

"Y-you don't have to do that! I can clean it up myself!" They reached for the plate at the same time, but Genrou's arms were longer and he reached it first. Kai flushed and dropped his head. "I'm sorry. I'm just, I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Today was pretty rough," Genrou said, standing up and putting the plate into the tub with the others while Kai cleaned the food off the floor. "I don't blame ya for bein' a little outta it." Kai didn't reply to this, he just continued to clean the floor. "There's a lotta food leftover tonight," observed Genrou. "Guess nobody's really hungry."

"I made too much," Kai said quietly. "Not many of the guys came down." His words sent another stab of guilt through Genrou's chest and he cleared his throat. Kai looked up at him. "I'm sorry, Kashira. I'll shut up now."

"Ya don't hafta do that," Genrou said. "I think that floor's as clean as it's gonna get, though."

"Huh?" Looking down at the rag, then at the floor, Kai's cheeks reddened again. "Oh. I guess I'm just not paying attention. I'm sorry." The resigned way he apologized made Genrou feel like he should say something, give him some leaderly advice, but he didn't know what to say. The boy had watched someone die in his arms. There was nothing he could say that would make it different, no matter how much he wished it might. Something else came to him then and he offered a hand to Kai to help him up.

"Havin' second thoughts?"

"Huh?" Kai looked up and saw the leader's hand in front of his face but hesitated. For a moment Genrou thought maybe he'd done the wrong thing, then Kai took his hand and let him pull him to his feet. The boy was lighter than he'd expected, even after half-carrying him up the mountain, and it made something in his chest tighten. "No, just thinking a bit. I've never seen anyone die before. It wasn't anything like I expected it to be." A silence grew between them and Kai looked back at the ground. In spite of what he'd told Genrou, he knew Kai was feeling a little doubt at coming to the mountain. The last thing Genrou wanted was for him to leave but he couldn't tell him that. Even if he told Kai he didn't want him to leave, there was no guarantee that he'd listen.

"Well," Genrou said with a sigh that made Kai look up from the floor. "At least one good thing'll come outta this. Ya get his old room."

"Oh." Kai couldn't muster up even the ghost of a smile and Genrou knew he was thinking that he'd only been given this promotion because a man had died. Even so, the manners living with bandits hadn't managed to get out of him prevented him from staying quiet too long. "Thank you, Kashira."

"Don't mention it," Genrou said, giving Kai a smile that he hoped desperately would encourage him to return it. By some miracle, Kai gave him a smile that didn't seem forced and it made something inside him hum like a biwa's string, taut and rich. "Don't dwell too much on it," he advised, giving Kai a thump on the back. "Any one of us could go at any time. 'S part of our life."

"Yeah."

"C'mon," Genrou said. "I'll show ya where your room is, then we can have a drink."

"A drink?" Kai looked back at the pile of dishes.

"Yeah, I think ya deserve it. Just leave 'em for now." He resisted the urge to grab Kai's wrist and drag him away from the kitchen. If there was anything the kid needed right then, it was to get out of his own head. That wasn't going to happen if Genrou left him alone with the dishes.

They went down to Nami and Kai's room together and Genrou waited outside while Kai got his things. He didn't know if Nami was inside but judging by how quickly the boy came out he assumed he was out. In Kai's arms were several blankets, his armor, and some spare clothes, and his sword was tucked under his arm. There was something familiar about the things he was carrying, though.

"What's that?" Genrou motioned to the blankets in Kai's arms. He grabbed the end of the blanket he'd given him on his first night in the fortress and gave him a dubious look. "Why're ya still draggin' around this ratty old thing?"

"Because I like it," Kai said, jerking the blanket away from him. "And you're not getting it back, so don't bother trying." It was a return to the boy's usual feisty nature that filled Genrou with relief. This was the Kai he liked.

Kyohei's room was actually closer to Genrou's than Nami's and the leader pushed the door open slowly. There were still traces of Kyohei inside; his clothes, several pairs of boots, the naginata he was learning to use leaning against the wall. Kai looked around it and Genrou noticed his arms tighten around the things he was carrying.

"What am I supposed to do with his things?" Kai didn't make a move toward putting his things down and Genrou looked uncomfortably around the room.

"I guess we can pack 'em up. Anyone who can fit his clothes can have 'em if they want 'em, and we'll just stick his weapons back with the others. Unless ya wanna keep anything yourself." As soon as he said this, Kai's eyes went to the naginata. "It's yours," Genrou said before he could even open his mouth. "You wanna learn how to use it?"

"Maybe," Kai said quietly. "Right now I just want to look at it. If that's okay."

"It's fine. Ya want me to help get his stuff together?" Kai shook his head and carefully sat his blankets and clothes on the bed, then leaned his sword near the naginata as gently as if it were alive.

"I'll get them together and we can figure out what to do with them tomorrow." His voice was heavy and he looked from the basin to the bed. Genrou could see Kai was starting to get depressed again just as surely as he had been able to see that he wanted the naginata and he jerked his thumb at the door.

"All right, I brought ya down here. Now it's time to have a couple of drinks and relax." He started for the door and Kai seemed all too eager to follow. Genrou wondered if maybe he was doing the wrong thing, that it might be better for Kai to stay with Nami for the night. "Hey," he began, only to be cut off by Kai walking briskly past him and through the door.

This time it was Genrou's turn to follow Kai, and he wasn't surprised when he saw the boy was headed back for the kitchen. He reached out and grabbed Kai's upper arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Where do ya think you're goin'?"

"I really need to-"

"-have a drink. You're kinda on edge and ya need to relax." Not letting go of Kai's arm, he dragged him to his room and forced him to sit at the short table on the floor. While the boy stared down at the table in silence, Genrou brought out some of the extra-strength sake he'd been saving for just such an occasion. He poured some out for Kai and handed it to him. "Careful with this stuff," he warned. "It's pretty powerf-"

Before he could finish what he was saying, Kai tossed back his drink and set the cup on the table. He reached across the table for the bottle, then carefully poured a drink for Genrou before refilling his own cup. A memory of the way Kai had been drinking the night they'd gone to the teahouse returned to him and he wondered if he was going to have to cut him off tonight.

"At least I won't have far to drag ya this time," he said more to himself than to Kai. This made Kai smile a little, which made Genrou happy again. "Good think you're not heavy."

"Just wait until I start building up my muscles." He took another drink, then looked around the room. "What's that?" Kai pointed up at the wall, where a long, flat piece of folded metal with a leather handle was mounted. Genrou followed his gaze and grinned.

"It's a tessen," he said. "Kinda like a fan but when I say an incantation it shoots fire."

"Really? That's pretty cool." Sipping his sake, Kai considered the tessen. "You must not use it much if you've got it on the wall like that."

"I carry it around with me," he said, looking up at the tessen with Kai for a moment before turning his eyes back to him and raising an eyebrow. "Ain't ya seen me with it a hundred times? I just keep it up there for safekeepin' and stuff."

"Oh." Kai continued to stare at the tessen and Genrou knew exactly what he was thinking. He had thought the same thing when he'd seen Hakurou use it the first time they'd met. Having never actually seen him use it, he wasn't surprised that Kai couldn't stop looking at it.

"Maybe I'll show ya sometime," Genrou said.

"Really? Thanks," Kai said with a grin. Suddenly, he sat up straight. "Hey! Is that what you keep hitting me with?"

"I didn't say it was only good for fire, did I?" Genrou got up and took the tessen off the wall, remembering as he did every time he'd used it when he was with Miaka and the others. Its weight hadn't changed since the first day he'd held it in the Mt. Kaou stronghold but for some reason it felt lighter, as if it was a part of him instead of just an extension of his arm. He hesitated, not sure he wanted to let Kai touch it. Except for Kouji, he'd never let anyone else even touch it, much less hold it. Even as he thought this, he carried it over to the table and held it out to Kai. "Here."

"Me?" He looked around the room, as if he was expecting to see someone else behind him, then up at Genrou, who was still holding out the tessen. He reached out and took it carefully, his arms dropping when Genrou let go. "It's heavy!"

"What'd ya expect, it's made of metal." He sat back down and poured himself another drink while Kai ran his hand reverently over the smooth finish of the tessen. Carefully, he unfolded it just enough to confirm that it really did open, then closed it again.

"Wow."

The simple fascination Kai showed toward the tessen made Genrou feel melancholy somehow. Even though there were some sad memories associated with using it, the majority of his experience with the tessen was good. He didn't know why watching Kai's face should make him feel so sad.

"You'll really show me sometime?" Kai's voice snapped Genrou out of the gloom that was settling over him and he smiled.

"Of course I will. I don't lie to little kids." Kai's empty cup bonked him on the head and he rubbed the spot where it had hit. "Hey! What the hell was that about?"

"I'm not a kid!" He shot up from the table and held the tessen back out to Genrou. "You can have this back, Kashira. I've got dishes to finish."

"I'm just kiddin' with ya! Sit back down."

"I really need to finish those dishes," Kai said, still holding out the tessen. Just as he'd said, it wasn't light, and Genrou figured his arms must be getting tired.

"Just leave 'em," Genrou said with a shrug. "We've got plenty of others." His irritation had faded but Kai looked uncertainly at him and he grinned. "If they're buggin' ya that much, I'll help ya with 'em."

"No!" A scandalized look crossed Kai's face and his fingers tightened around the tessen. "I couldn't ask you to do that. It's my job, I'll do it."

"I said I'd help ya and I mean it. I don't go around sayin' things like that for my health, ya know." He tipped the last of the sake into his mouth, then stood up and finally took the tessen from him. "I dunno, it kinda takes me back. When I came up here, I did all the stupid little chores and stuff. They weren't as nice as me, either. I didn't get to start workin' on the road until I'd almost been here a year." Genrou went to the wall to hang up his weapon, then led Kai out of the room and into the hall.

"Why are you letting me do it?" It was an honest question and Genrou didn't know how to answer it without sounding like he had some ulterior motive. Which he didn't, of course. _Suppose I should just be honest._

"I guess it's 'cause ya seem like ya got it together, at least more than I did. Kouji wasn't kiddin' when I said I was just a brat with no fightin' skills or anything." He grinned. "You're also smarter than me and most of the guys here."

"Thank you," Kai said, and this time Genrou wasn't sure whether it was his compliment or the sake making his cheeks red. "I'm glad I can be of use around here."

"What're ya talkin' about? Ya run this place most days. If it weren't for all the stuff ya do around here, the whole place'd fall apart." This was a little of an exaggeration but he didn't want Kai going back to the quiet, depressed state he'd been in when they were in the kitchen. "I guess that's why they made me do all the stuff when I was younger too. Kashira made me feel important to him, like you're important to me." As soon as he said this, Genrou blushed. "Th-that didn't exactly come out right."

"It's all right," Kai said, his cheeks a little red as well. "I understand what you meant."

"Good. I'm glad."

"Me too."

000

It was too quiet. The lantern in Kai's new room had been off for at least an hour but she wasn't able to sleep. She rolled over so she was facing the room instead of the wall and stared out into the darkness, trying to make out shapes. It was laid out pretty much the same as Nami's room so she had an idea of where the table and basin were, and where her sword was, but had absolutely no confidence in her ability to find her away around in the dark.

Kai sat up and swung her legs out of bed, setting her bare feet on the cool floor. _Maybe I'll go take a bath_, she thought. Sneaking out of the fortress and going into the mountains would definitely take her mind off Kyohei and her new room. _I'll just grab a towel from the laundry and go out_, she thought as she stepped into her boots. _Nobody's awake to see me._

She went down the hall until she reached the laundry, took a towel and started out the side door that led to the yard where she hung the clothes to dry. On her way she carefully propped the door open with a scrub brush the same way she'd been doing since she came to the fortress. There had never been a problem before and there didn't seem there was going to be one now, at least until she saw Genrou out in the yard, looking up at the sky.

Not wanting him to see her with a towel in her hand, Kai took a step back toward the laundry. He seemed to be more occupied with the sky and she thought she would be able to get away with it. Then he turned his face toward her and frowned.

"What're ya doin' out here?"

"Me? What are _you_ doing out here?" Kai stuffed the towel through the partially opened door.

"Couldn't sleep," they said at the same time, then laughed at the look on each others' faces.

"It's going to take some getting used to, sleeping without Nami's snoring," Kai said, looking down from the porch at Genrou. He looked back up at the moon and her heart sped up at the way its light touched his face. In that moment, more than any of the others they'd shared, she knew there was no way she could be away from him. No matter what it took, she would stay by his side.

"When I was a kid," Genrou said with a fond look up at the sky, "I used to sleep in the same room as Kouji and the first thing I thought was that he was really quiet. My Ma would snore so loud you could hear her in my room, but it didn't seem to bug my sisters or nothin.'"

"You have sisters?" It was sort of a personal question but she couldn't stop herself. She wanted to know something about him that was a little private.

"Four of 'em," he said with a nod. "All of 'em older that me. They used to torture me when I was a kid, which was part of the reason I ended up here." Finally, he turned away from the moon. "You? Ya got any family?"

"Not anymore," Kai said, trying not to sound like it bothered her. In truth, they had been gone long enough for her to be used to the idea but it still stung a little to talk about them. With Nami it had been all right to be a little pensive about it but she felt like a boy should be stronger about it. "My folks and my brother died a while back."

"You're an orphan." It didn't seem to surprise Genrou to hear this. Kai nodded convulsively and he gave her a smile she could only describe as warm. "A lotta guys here don't have any family either. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. But if ya met my family I dunno how lucky you'd think I am."

"If they're anything like you, I'd like to meet them," Kai said. "Four sisters, though." She tried to imagine Genrou getting pushed around by four women and couldn't. "Are they all still in Kou?"

"All but one. How'd ya know I'm from Kou?"

"You mentioned it to one of the travelers, remember?" She wanted to add that she would never forget anything he told her but wisely kept her mouth shut in spite of the fact that the sake had loosened her tongue and still had a slight hold on her.

"Oh yeah, guess I did. What about you?" Kai couldn't help but feel happy that he was asking her about her family, even if the memories it brought back made her heart ache. If he wanted to hear her life story she would gladly tell it to him.

"I'm from Kushin," she said, looking down at him. It felt strange to be higher than him and Kai laughed a little before she could stop herself, causing Genrou to give her a look like she'd gone crazy. "Sorry," apologized Kai. "I was just thinking it's funny that I'm finally taller than you."

"Come down here and say that."

"Sure." Kai jumped down off the porch, landed wrong on her foot and fell onto her hands and knees. Feeling more than a little stupid, she stayed like that for a second before a hand came into her line of sight. She looked up to see Genrou holding a hand out to her.

"Shoulda known that was gonna happen," he said with a smile. "We've got steps around here for a reason, ya know."

"Thanks," Kai mumbled, embarrassed. She reached up and took Genrou's hand and he pulled her to her feet a little harder than he meant to. For the second time, she stumbled forward a little and found herself close enough to him that she could see every stone in his necklace. His hand tightened on hers and for a long moment Kai thought he wasn't going to let go. Not that she minded. If he wanted to stay outside holding her hand all night, it would be fine with her.

"Sorry," he said, letting go of her hand and taking a step back. It could have been her imagination, but Kai thought that his face was flushed. "Didn't mean to pull ya that much."

"It's okay," she said. "Just me being clumsy again."

"Nah. This time it was my fault." There was an uncertain pause between them and he scratched the back of his head nervously. "So, uh, you wanna have another drink?"

"No thanks," Kai said, even though she really wanted to. The last thing she needed was to get drunker and say something she shouldn't. Not to mention that she didn't want to do anything that would spoil the moment she'd had with Genrou, awkward though it had turned out. "I think I'll be able to sleep now. Are you going to stay out here?"

"I think I'll go in too. Nothin' happenin' out here." Genrou took one last look up at the sky, then went around to the side and went up the steps. "Be sure ya come up the stairs this time. Unless ya don't think you'll be able to get up on your own."

"I'll be fine," Kai said. She followed him up the steps and into the fortress after kicking the scrub brush surreptitiously back into the laundry room so he wouldn't see where she had come from. _I'll pick it up in the morning_.

Though she hadn't expected him to, Genrou walked with her all the way to her room. She realized for the first time since she'd left it that she was wearing the plain shirt and baggy pants she slept in and felt a flush creeping into her cheeks. If Genrou noticed, he didn't say anything and Kai was grateful for it.

"So, uh, I'll see you in the morning," she said, looking back at the door to her room. There was something both strange and pleasant about the leader standing in the hall with her and she smiled. "Everyone needs their breakfast, right?"

"Yeah," Genrou said. "Get some sleep, okay?"

"I will." He seemed to be waiting for her to go in her room and she pushed open the door and went inside. Kai listened at the door until she could hear his footsteps fade away, then locked it and took off her shirt. For the first time since she'd come to the mountain she was going to be able to sleep comfortably, and no matter how she had come by the opportunity she was going to enjoy it.

As she unwound the strips of cloth from her chest, she thought about Genrou and how he had helped her off the ground. Of course it didn't mean anything, especially not the way she'd almost knocked him down. Kai wondered if she could go one day without embarrassing herself in front of him, but the answer was a dismal no.

_He probably thinks I'm a pain in the ass_, she thought with a sigh._ I give up._


	12. Realization

The next morning Kai was out in the yard practicing with his bow, and Genrou watched him from the porch. The arrows flew expertly from the string and he found it difficult to resolve the sight with the boy who hadn't even been able to make an arrow hit the tree almost half a year earlier. Once again, he found himself watching Kai a little too closely and turned quickly before anyone saw him looking. It wasn't odd for the leader to check up on the new guy but he was worried that someone might see something else there.

Something was bothering him, though. The night before when he'd helped Kai off the ground, they'd gotten a little too close to one another and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. On one hand, it had been an honest accident caused by his strength and Kai's clumsiness, but on the other it had felt good to hold his hand. Really good.

This was concerning in many ways. Kai was one of the bandits, the newest one there and most likely the smartest one as well. But for some reason Genrou found him on his mind more and more often. The disconnect between how he felt about him as a bandit and the strange new way he felt about him as a person was more than he wanted to think about.

_Ya know, the best way to deal with that is just to not be alone with him,_ he told himself. _Just make sure Kouji's around. Easy._

"Hey, Kai, you wanna help me check the nets?"

"Huh?" One final arrow shot toward the tree and landed dead center in the target in spite of the fact that Kai was looking over his shoulder at Genrou. "Sure, Kashira. Glad to help!" He ran over to the tree to collect his arrows and dropped them into the quiver, which he slung over his back with the bow.

_What the hell're ya doin'? Didn't ya just say ya weren't gonna be alone with him?_ As he was trying to figure out why his brain and his mouth had suddenly decided to part ways, Kai came over and grinned up at him.

"Ready when you are, sir!"

"Don't get too excited, it ain't that fun." His words didn't seem to dampen Kai's enthusiasm at all and he followed a few paces behind Genrou toward the gate. "And ya don't gotta walk behind me like you're a duckling or somethin.'"

"Sorry," Kai said, quickening his step so that they were side by side. Genrou immediately decided this had been a bad idea, a thought that was compounded by the way his eyes kept going to Kai's hand, noticing how close it was to his and remembering how it had felt in his the night before.

_No way. I ain't gonna hold his hand_, he thought, laying down the law to every part of his body. As if defying him, his fingers twitched in the direction of Kai's hand and he forced himself to think of something else. "Let's start with the ones over here," he said, motioning to the west to give his hand something to do.

"All right." They walked to the west of the fortress in silence that wasn't altogether uncomfortable until Kai looked up at him. "How did you end up here, Kashira?"

"I was just a stupid kid," Genrou said, relieved he had come up with something to talk about. "I ran off from home thinkin' I was gonna go to the city and, I dunno, get rich or somethin.' Some bandits beat me up and tried to take my stuff, then the old leader found me and brought me up here. I didn't come lookin' for trouble like you," he said with a smirk.

"Trouble's my favorite thing," Kai said, returning the smirk. The way his lips tugged into a half-smile and the arch of his eyebrow made Genrou's heart beat a little faster and he moved his eyes to the trees, pointing to them hurriedly.

"First net's over there. It's still in the tree, so nobody's come up this far. The traps around here are mostly to catch anyone who might be tryin' to get in the fortress. The ones that make us money are the ones on the mountain roads." Kai followed his gaze to the tree and he pointed down at the ground. "Watch out for the rope, otherwise I'm gonna be cuttin' you out of the net."

"Got it." Carefully, Kai walked around the rope and looked up at the net. It looked like a blanket made of criss-crossing rope and he turned back to Genrou. "Yeah, it's still up there. What do I do now?"

"Nothin.' We leave that one alone and go on to the next." Genrou pointed at the ground. "Watch your step."

"I know, I know."

"Just makin' sure. You're the one who's most likely to set off one of these things, ya know." The look Kai gave him made him want to laugh but he folded his arms over his chest and tried his best to act stern. "Don't gimme that. It's true and ya know it."

"You act like I can't tell where my own feet are," Kai said with a scowl, walking beside Genrou down the path.

"Sometimes I think ya don't." They descended the mountain path and Kai looked around. "There's another comin' up pretty quick," Genrou said. "Actually, I'm kinda impressed ya didn't trip any of 'em on your way up here before. Especially if ya came up this way."

"I'm not _that_ clumsy." Genrou stopped in front of a small clearing and pointed at the tree. Kai squinted into the branches. "I don't-oh, there it is." He followed the rope down the tree and to the smaller tree it was attached to with a slip knot.

"Knot looks a little loose," Genrou said. "Can't have it comin' down before anyone trips it. Why don't ya tighten it up some?"

"Sure!" With far more excitement than the task warranted, Kai went to the tree, skillfully avoiding the rope that was across the path. Genrou wondered how he could be so graceful sometimes and completely hopeless other times. "Thanks for letting me do this, Kashira. I really am grateful to you for letting me help out."

"It's no problem. Ya know," Genrou said, looking away from him and scratching the back of his head. "Ya don't hafta call me Kashira all the time. It's kinda, y'know, formal. And I dunno if ya realized it yet but I ain't really a formal kinda guy."

"Okay," Kai said, tugging on the rope to tighten the knot. His increased strength still wasn't quite enough to test it and he braced his foot against the tree for extra leverage. "So what do you want me to call you?"

"I dunno," replied Genrou, automatically going over to help him out. "Genrou's good. You can just call me Genrou."

"Genrou, huh?" His name coming from Kai's mouth sent a shiver through his body and the boy turned to him with a smile that didn't help matters. "Okay, I will." He gave the rope another tug and Genrou reached toward him to help pull at the exact same time that Kai's hands slipped off the rope. Still holding the end of it, he fell back into Genrou's chest and sent the leader stumbling backward. He remembered the location of the trip rope just as he hit it and a large rope net fell over both of them. "Oops," Kai said, looking sheepishly up at Genrou.

"What did I tell ya?"

"But you were the one who tripped it."

"That ain't what's important!"

000

Seeing as how neither of them had brought a knife, Kai and Genrou had spent a great deal more time than was necessary untangling themselves from the net. Once they were free and had the net back in the tree, Genrou had cancelled the rest of the outing and brought Kai back to the fortress where he unceremoniously returned him to the care of Nami.

"He's all yours," Genrou said, shoving Kai toward the enormous bandit who was cleaning his sword. "Enjoy."

"Thanks," Nami grunted, he stood up and looked at Kai. "Go get your sword, we'll practice." Kai watched Genrou walk away and Nami smacked her lightly on the back of her head. "Go get your sword, brat."

"Right," Kai said, blushing. "I've been looking forward to fighting with you a little." She ran up the steps and disappeared into the fortress, leaving Nami to sigh heavily. With Kai practicing her archery and going out to check the traps with Genrou he couldn't very well go out to the road by himself, especially with the new precautions they were taking against the Mt. Kaou bandits so he'd spent the better part of the day sharpening and polishing his sword. Now that Kai had returned it looked like he was going to have to work after all. She came bursting out of the door and leapt off the porch, landing much more lightly than Nami expected her to, especially with her sword in hand.

"Your balance has gotten better," he said, his voice betraying the surprise he felt.

"Was that a compliment, Aniki?"

"Don't let it go to your head."

In response to this, Kai ran forward with her sword pointed outward like a spear. Nami waited until she was in striking distance before lazily raising his sword and blocking her. This time was different, however. She was moving much faster than she had before and Nami wondered if she would be able to fight and talk at the same time.

"I never thought I'd say this, brat, but I almost miss havin' you chattering at me as much as I miss your snoring." Nami swung his sword at Kai, who blocked it expertly with her own. It was all she did, though, and Nami shook his head. "Gotta put your back into it," he said, pushing away from Kai. She stumbled backward but didn't fall – a major improvement for her – and went back to swing her own sword at Nami.

"My snoring's nothing compared to yours," Kai said, swinging and missing by a yard. "I'm surprised you didn't keep the guys in the next room awake."

"You're the first one who complained," Nami replied. "And it's not like you even did that. Why am I just now hearing about this?"

"Because I wasn't about to piss you off when I couldn't get away from you." Kai hefted her sword up again. "You really miss me?" Their swords clashed together and Nami raised the one eyebrow that wasn't covered with a patch.

"I said 'almost.'" Kai gave him a knowing look that both annoyed and embarrassed Nami. He still couldn't believe he was the only one who knew that Kai was a woman. If the others suspected anything it was only that she was the sort of guy who enjoyed the company of other guys. They still gave her a hard time because of her stature but she didn't exactly act effeminate so they mostly left her alone. Nami had heard others talking about her in the bath but it was mostly about how they'd expected her to give up months earlier.

"You miss me," Kai said, grinning. She tried moving her sword in an upward stroke and it got away from her, missing Nami entirely and sending her wobbling off to the side. "You can admit it to me, Aniki. It won't go to my head."

"How's your little problem coming?" Now it was Nami's turn to smirk at her and he knew she knew perfectly well what he was talking about by the way she blushed and swung her sword out of control. "Watch it with that thing, will you?"

"S-sorry," Kai said. Nami sighed and lowered his sword. When the kid started apologizing he knew it was time to stop teasing her. He almost regretted what he'd said and tossed a waterskin in her direction. Kai reached up and caught it expertly in one hand. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He watched Kai take a long drink, studying her as she did. Her mannerisms were both unflinchingly masculine and undeniably feminine and he supposed he couldn't blame the others for not seeing it. Up until he saw her with her shirt off he'd always just thought she was the runt of the litter in her family. "C'mon, let's take a break and see what there is to eat around here."

"There's some fruit in the kitchen," Kai offered, mimicking the way Nami carried his sword over his shoulder. There was something cute about it, like a kid walking after his father. Nami felt a stab of pain in his heart, which he pushed away as always. "And some dried meat," she went on, unable to see anything but the door to the fortress.

"You know you're spilling water all over yourself, right?"

"Huh?" Kai looked down to discover she had managed to turn the waterskin over somehow and it was dribbling down the side of her shirt. "Dammit!"

"Maybe you should just give me that sword before you kill yourself." He smirked. "Oh, no, that's _right_. Your precious Kashira gave it to you."

"Shut the hell up!" Kai slung the half-empty waterskin at Nami, who dodged it easily in spite of his size, and laughed loudly enough for the others to look at them. Kai's face was so red she could have been sunburned and she ducked her head. "Just shut up, will you?

"Not a chance."

000

"So stupid," Kai said to herself as she pushed open the door to the storage room, glancing over her shoulder in the hopes that no one was looking. The doors swung closed behind her and she immediately began rummaging through some of the ceramics that were piled in one corner. "Can't believe I did that," she muttered.

Her hands finally fell on a deep china basin with a delicate floral image on the outside and she looked at it for a moment, wondering if it was too girly. She supposed it would be in her room so no one would see it but her. It also seemed to be the only one, so she picked it up and was just about to start back to the door when something else caught her eye.

It was a small, carved box and Kai sat down her basin to go over and pick it up. She remembered what Genrou had said about not running off with any of their goods but since she only wanted to look at it she decided it wouldn't hurt. When she opened the box she found the workings of a music box and smiled. She'd had one when she was younger but had to sell it after her parents died. Tinkling but somehow rich music came from the open lid and she smiled, closing her eyes.

"Ya like that sorta thing, huh?"

Kai was so surprised she almost dropped the music box. Instead she snapped the lid shut and set it down on the table with a nervous look. "Sorry. It just kind of reminded me of something. My family," she added before she could stop herself. Genrou nodded at the box.

"So take it. It's yours."

"Really?" Kai looked down at the box and resisted the urge to hug it to her chest or throw her arms around Genrou in gratitude. "Thank you."

"It's not really something we can give away to the villagers," explained Genrou. "Stuff like that we hang onto for a little while and then see if we can sell it. Then most of the money goes to the people of the mountains."

"Oh yeah?" Kai turned the music box over again, immediately putting her defenses up again. She'd let them down for a moment when he'd caught her with the music box but letting it go too long was dangerous to say the least.

"Weren't ya listenin' before?" Genrou shook his head and her head snapped up toward him and she forced a cocky grin onto her face.

"Sure I was. But you know, stuff goes right through my head sometimes." She tucked the music box under her arm and shrugged. "You didn't hire me because I was a genius."

"I didn't hire ya at all, idiot." The words came out sounding almost affectionate and Kai fought to keep her smile even. "C'mon, it's time to eat."

"Oh," she said. It hadn't even occurred to her that he had come looking for her and her facade slipped a little again. "Right. Sorry if I'm keeping you guys from eating. I'll get those plates right out onto the tables." She picked up the basin. "I just went back to my room for a second and when I did I just kind of-"

"Yeah, I can guess what happened."

Kai blushed and set the basin down again. "I'll come back for it," she said, not answering him. Then she put her head down and ran for the kitchen, leaving Genrou standing in the storage room. She didn't realize until she was in the kitchen that she had brought the music box with her. With a tiny smile, she set it on the table beside the washbasin and started cooking dinner.

While she served the food, she found that she couldn't look at Genrou. She didn't know why this should be. It was true that she was clumsy, even more so when she was around him, but somehow his pointing it out this time had hurt. Maybe it was because she had opened up to him about the music box reminding her of her family, or because he had been nice enough to give it to her. Either way, she couldn't meet his eyes.

After dinner was finished and everyone else had gone their separate ways, Kai finished the dishes in record time and went back to her room. She went to wash her face only to find an empty space where her basin had been. The floor was still wet from when she'd broken the other one and her heart dropped slightly when she remembered what Genrou had said.

_I have to go back for it_, she thought. _I can't go to bed without washing my face, especially after working with Nami Aniki._ She stepped back into the boots she'd kicked off when she went back to her room and pushed open the door, fully intending to go back to the storage room. Much to her surprise, she almost hit Genrou with the door. His hand was up as if he was about to knock and her hand tightened on the frame.

"Kashira! I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were there!"

"It's okay. I shouldn'ta been standing in the way. You've gotta be the most forgetful guy around here," Genrou said, holding out the music box. "Left this in the kitchen."

"Oh, damn." Kai reached out and took it from him, the tips of her fingers brushing the tips of his as she did. It sent a shiver up her arm and she wondered for the briefest of moments if it would ever feel the same for him. "Thanks, Kashira."

"Thought you weren't gonna keep callin' me that," he replied, watching her carefully set the music box on the table beside the bed.

"Sorry, it's just force of habit." Kai turned back to him. She wanted to ask him why he'd been in the kitchen in the first place but she couldn't make herself. The last thing she needed at the moment was to hear that he'd been looking for sake or cups for sake, or whatever small thing she'd forgotten. "Excuse me. I have to go get that basin."

"Why're ya goin' to sleep so early? Come down to the side room and have a couple of drinks with the rest of us." Genrou followed her down the hallway and she avoided looking back at him.

"I don't feel like it tonight," Kai said honestly. They reached the storage room and she pushed the door open. The basin was where she'd left it and she could feel his eyes on her back as she bent down to pick it up. "I'm really tired. Nami Aniki and I spent a lot of time fighting this evening."

"Oh." It might have been her imagination, but Kai thought Genrou sounded a little disappointed. "Hey, is somethin' wrong? You're not actin' normal."

"Aren't I? I'm sorry." Kai forced a smile onto her face. "I'm really tired," she repeated, then looked down at the basin in her hands. "It's okay if I take this, right?"

"Of course it is," Genrou said. "Especially if ya broke the other one." It hit him then and he frowned at her. "Is that what's up? You're pissed because I made fun of ya?"

"No!" It was the truth. She wasn't angry at him, but she couldn't explain why she felt so hurt by his words. She didn't want him to think she was mad at him, though, so she shook her head forcefully. "I'm not mad. It's not like you're saying anything I didn't already know, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"It's okay," she said, not realizing she was hugging the basin to her chest until it hurt. _Stop it_, she thought. _Stop being such a girl before he notices something_. "And I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Genrou looked at her, confused.

"Sorry I tripped the net earlier."

"Oh, that?" He grinned. "It was kinda my fault too. Ya know, when I first came up here I got caught in one of the nets. I'm actually kinda impressed that ya didn't trip one before this. Just be glad ya didn't trip one of the spiked ones." He looked at Kai as if he expected her to smile back at him and she obliged, though she didn't feel much like it. "I'll show ya where those are tomorrow."

"Thanks," Kai said. She pointed at the door. "If you'll excuse me, I want to get back to my room and wash up." Something occurred to her and she sighed. "Actually, I've got to go down and get some water from the well. I used the last of it washing dishes."

"Need some help? I'll go with ya." Normally this would have sent Kai's heart soaring in her chest but she shook her head.

"I'll take care of it," she said. "Thank you for offering though." Kai gently pushed past him, then looked back at him as she was standing in the doorway. "And thank you for the music box. I'll do my best not to break it."

"Kai-"

"Goodnight, Ka-Genrou," she said, then disappeared.

000

_Somethin's wrong_, Genrou thought as he looked out his window. He was watching the path he knew Kai would have to take to get to the well but so far he hadn't seen him go past. _It's like he's a completely different guy from how he was earlier. And where'd he go? I thought he said he had to go get some water._

"Excuse me, who is it? It's Kouji, come to see his good friend Genrou after he didn't come down to drink with us like he said. Oh good, please come in." It was Kouji's standard way of announcing he was about to come in and Genrou turned away from the window reluctantly as his doors opened.

"Sorry 'bout that," Genrou said. "I just kinda changed my mind about it at the last minute. My stomach kinda hurts." He hoped that Kouji wouldn't see through his flimsy excuse but he raised an eyebrow and Genrou sighed. They had been together too long to try getting away with anything.

"Did you find the kid and give him his music box?" Kouji looked on the verge of laughter and Genrou nodded. "That kid likes the weirdest stuff. Gotta keep it in mind for next time we pick up something like it in a haul."

"Speakin' of Kai, what do ya think of him?"

"What do I think of him?" Kouji looked as if this was the last thing he expected to come out of Genrou's mouth but he recovered quickly. "I like him. He's got a good sense of humor and he's always eager to help. Probably one of the best recruits we've had since Ruri went back to his family. Why?"

"I dunno," Genrou said, leaning against the wall. "I was thinkin' of makin' him the third around here once he gets his feet wet."

"Really?" Kouji looked at his friend with eyebrows that were even more raised than they'd been before. "Any particular reason?"

"He's smart, for one thing. I'm sure ya noticed that he's more of a thinker than a fighter, which only makes me wonder more what he's doin' around here." Genrou smiled, showing the tips of his fangs. "I think he'd make a decent assistant for ya if somethin' were to happen to me."

"Don't even joke like that," Kouji said, serious again. This surprised Genrou, especially after his previous glowing review of Kai's personality.

"What, ya don't think he's got the stuff?"

"No, I just don't wanna think about anything happenin' to you."

"Aw, Kouji, I didn't know ya cared."


End file.
